


The Forest

by 2Dsheep



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fantasy, M/M, Rating will change, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-08-04 21:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 45,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16354223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2Dsheep/pseuds/2Dsheep
Summary: No one was to go into the forest. It had been like that for as long as Erwin remembered, not that he had so many years on him, but everyone from young to old knew to steer clear from it. Every family had their own stories of what lurked within, and there was always someone who knew someone who had dared to go in, only to never return. However, Erwin wasn’t satisfied with tales or rumours. Despite his father’s warnings, he made his way in to the forest and met a Demon, learning more secrets than he could ever have imagined.





	1. Chapter 1

The first step into the forest was the most difficult, so much so that Erwin made it as a leap before he could convince himself to turn back around. It wasn’t that he was scared. Nile might have called him a scaredy-cat every time he refused to climb up The Witch Tree at the end of the schoolyard, but that wasn’t because he was scared. He didn’t even believe in witches, never mind ones who wait in slumber inside crooked trees. It wasn’t even the risk of falling that kept him from scaling to the top of the tree with his classmates, it was just that doing so would risk scuffing his shoes or dirtying the knees of his trousers. There weren’t so many things that made his mother angry, but ruining perfectly good clothing was a surefire way of getting her there quickly. Erwin had never felt the need to prove Nile wrong, so despite the teasing he had never climbed the tree, and when Nile started touting about the forest to the north of town being rife with demons and monsters, well he ignored that too.

The walk to the forest took more time than he expected, its size making it seem so much closer when looking at it from the outskirts of town. A wall ran along the entire forest edge from the mountains in the east all the way to those in the west, and it was just as much a mystery as the forest itself. Just from a quick glance, it was clear to tell that it was old, though Erwin couldn’t tell how many years. Moss had settled between the rocks, pushing them loose in certain areas, and here and there some had fallen completely out of place, the grass and dirt below doing their best to swallow them up. No one knew who built the wall, easily as tall as three or four grown men, but it was still nothing to the trees that grew from within; only the mountains were taller than those, and Erwin couldn’t even see the tops of the trees from where he stood. 

Everyone in the town knew to steer clear from the forest and its wall, but it seemed no one could agree on exactly why that was, all sorts of tales and cautionary warnings were swapped among adults and children alike. People whispered about rivers of fire, creatures with talons sharp enough to cut a man in two, air so toxic one’s lungs would shrivel like tomatoes under the sun, each story seeming to be more far-fetched than the one before. Most stories shared the same character though, a supposed demon, the ruler of the forest, a creature most unforgiving of trespassers. Erwin brushed it off as superstition, scary stories to keep children such as himself from attempting to scale the walls and hurting themselves. 

Erwin’s father was the smartest person he knew, and Erwin had little doubt that he was the smartest person in the town, perhaps even the whole world, too. So when his father buckled to Erwin’s incessant questioning and told him his own story about a demon who lived in the forest, that there was a secret to those walls that someone doesn’t want being found out, his interest was hooked like a fish on the most delicious bait. If even his father believed in it, then there had be some truth to it. 

“I don’t think the demon is the evil the rumours make of him.” 

It had been said quietly, as if his father had been saying it more to himself. Erwin had wanted to ask more, eager as if his life depended on the answer, but all of a sudden his father’s face had turned serious.

“But you must understand, Erwin, you are not to go near that forest. Stay clear of the walls, too.”  
He didn’t like to disobey his father, his disappointment always so much sharper than the scolding he might expect from his mother or teachers, but his curiosity was like a burning in his chest, the urge to fulfil it stronger than the need to eat that one time he was sent to bed without dinner. There had to be so much more to the forest, something that he was keen to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

Erwin had heard rumours of a hole in the wall, one big enough for someone to walk through. It had taken much time to find it, but it did exist, and by the time he’d reached it he could no longer see the town. 

The gap wasn’t quite as big as he’d imagined, but it hadn’t been too much of a squeeze, and though he had to climb to reach it, Erwin could remain on his feet and there was no risk of injury as he leapt to the ground. He stood only a leap on the other side of the wall, but just like that at least half of the rumours about the forest turned out false. If Nile wasn’t such a tattle-tale, Erwin would have loved to inform him how one breath of air from inside the walls does not turn you into stone. Not that Erwin had ever needed proof to tell Nile how ridiculous that was. 

He walked along the edge of the forest, only a few of his longest leaps away from the wall, trying to find a patch that wasn’t so dense. After all, there wouldn’t be much point coming all the way here only to not make his way into the actual forest. It was much colder on this side of the wall, he noticed only a few flittering streams of sunlight able to break through the branches that stretched out above his head. 

In only a short amount of time, Erwin found a sort of clearing. It wasn’t quite a path, but he could certainly start making his way down it, there was plenty of room to walk without having to climb over anything more than a few unruly roots and fallen branches. Erwin picked up sturdiest-looking branch from the ground, but as he pulled it out from under the scattered leaves and held it up, it turned out to be almost as tall as him. He dropped it back down and picked up another one. It was the perfect length. Thinking of the knights and soldiers from his favourite books, Erwin swished the make-shift sword through the air, jabbing it at imaginary foes. When he considered himself practiced enough in the art of wielding a weapon, he continued his journey deeper into the forest. After what could have been minutes, an hour, or even several days for all he knew, Erwin felt the beginnings of disappointment creep in. He certainly hadn’t wanted to face the sorts of dangers he’d heard about, but so far, other than being darker, chillier and thick with trees which looked ready to rot away, this was no different than the small woodland on the other edge of town that no one feared. 

“Hello!” He called out, deciding that if this didn’t work then he would simply turn back around. “Is anyone out there?” His voice bounced back at him from all directions, until the forest gave way once more to silence. It only struck him how out of place the quiet was when he heard a rustling from behind him, the snap of a twig as if trodden on. 

Erwin turned around and saw nothing but trees, and beyond there seemed to be only a backdrop of darkness. The forest was dense here, the level of light much like that of early evening, a few small patches in the canopy just above him was the only indication that it was in fact still daytime. Just as he was about to blame the noise on his imagination or some wild critter, Erwin saw him.

From where Erwin stood, he looked much like a normal man apart from a single horn like that of a ram curling from the right side of his head. There was no doubt about it; it was the Demon. 

As the Demon took a few steps forward, it became clear that there were once two horns, a jagged stump peeking out from his black hair on the opposite side. The remaining horn had an unearthly shimmer, like a black crystal, and the way the light hit it reminded Erwin of the night sky when the moon was not there, a deepest black with an uncountable number of stars. The Demon stopped, seeming to want to keep his distance, but Erwin noticed something moving behind him, and it was then he realised the demon also had a tail, long and thin, slowly twisting through the air. 

Once Erwin allowed himself a breath, he realised he wasn’t all that scary for a Demon. Erwin had expected a creature much taller and hideous, something more like the monsters who his favoured knights would challenge and ultimately slay after a hard wrought battle. Erwin dropped the branch from his hand, kicked it away, and showed the Demon that he had nothing else in his hands. Something told him that the demon wouldn’t hurt him, his father’s words a whisper in the back of his mind. Erwin believed it with such conviction, even when the demon’s face turned dark, and the smell of burning erupted in the air around them as he clenched his fists.

“Why are you here?”

The Demon walked closer, long dead leaves crunching like bones beneath his feet.

“I came to meet you.”

He stopped and the air calmed. For a moment, confusion showed on the Demon’s face before giving way to curled lips and a click of his tongue. 

“You need to leave.”

“What’s your name?” Erwin called out, quick as he could manage as he noticed the Demon readying to turn away. It seemed to work for he stilled, and after a few seconds looked back at Erwin. He seemed hesitant, his eyes flicking from Erwin and the space behind him, but eventually he spoke. 

“I have many names.” 

“I only have three. Erwin Harold Smith.” He said, counting off each name with his fingers. “But you can call me Erwin.”

Erwin wasn’t a patient boy. He’d been told so more than a few times by his teacher, but he kept his lips sealed while the demon stood there, seeming to consider whether or not he should answer. Erwin counted to ten three times before he got his reply. 

“My name’s Levi.”


	3. Chapter 3

If there were anything he could have done without that day, a damn kid walking into the forest was a pretty high contender for top of the list. It wasn’t often that Levi ventured so close to the wall, he couldn’t bear seeing it nor stand the stench of the air around it, and nothing good ever came of treading so close to the boundary of the forest, this brat before him only testament to that. Levi looked over at the kid whose eyes were fixed on him in a curious stare. They were perhaps a whole hour’s trek beyond the wall, but he was standing there unscathed, no wounds or inflictions, not even a hint of delirium. 

“How’ve you made it this far?” 

When Erwin didn’t reply with anything more than a look of confusion, Levi took a step forward and sniffed at the air. 

“Figures.” He said with a sigh, scrunching his nose. 

“What do you mean?”

“Forget about it, get outta here, kid.” 

He turned and started to walk back towards the centre of the forest, already tired with the most out of the ordinary thing that had happened in years. 

“Levi, you’re a Demon, aren’t you?” 

What was it with kids and asking questions? What made children so damn tenacious when it was the last thing anyone wanted of them? 

Levi turned on his heels, embers prickling at his fingertips. “I could kill you, y’know.”

But Erwin wasn’t even looking at Levi, his attention drawn to a leaf on the ground which he scooped up and held to his face to inspect closer. It was a deep orange, so out of place amongst the dark and dull green and browns. There weren’t many of those vibrant trees left in the forest, the one above them shedding the few leaves it had left.  
“I don’t think you will.” Erwin said with a shrug, eyes on the floor as he wandered around on the lookout for more coloured leaves. 

“You think I won’t? I could snap your neck before you have time to blink.”

“No. I don’t think you’re bad.”

“You’re not scared?”

Levi hadn’t seen the ocean in more time than he’d care to keep track of, but when the kid looked at him so directly, he thought of the coast which lay beyond the eastern mountains, and he could picture the blue as if he stood there only yesterday. He hated the reminder. 

“No.” Erwin replied with ease, as if he didn’t have to spare a single second for thought before turning away and quickly getting back to his search.

“You’re an unusual kid.”

“I hear that a lot.”

Erwin had picked up five leaves, each a different shade of red-orange. He inspected them, arranging them in his hand until he decided an order he liked, and held them up to the sky, peering at the colours illuminated by the thin stream of light that trickled through the trees. He was a curious kid, that much was obvious, and there was something about him that gave Levi his own touch of curiosity he hadn’t felt in the longest time. 

“Where d’ya hear that?”

“Other kids at school say it. That I’m unusual, or strange. They tell me straight to my face. Grown-ups say it, too. But, they only say it when they think I’m not listening.”   
He placed the leaves on the ground, careful so that they remained in his order, from the leaves more orange to the ones more red. 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know.” Erwin circled a tree, counting the number of steps it took for him to do so, looking impressed when totalling up to thirteen. “Grown-ups say I ask too many questions, especially my teachers.”

That wasn’t something Levi was pleased to hear. Being talkative was bad enough in itself, but he couldn’t stand the thought of being on the receiving end of an interrogation by a damn child. 

“Was I right?” Erwin asked anyway, staring straight up at Levi with a look so intense it was as if his very life depended on the answer.

“Hm?”

“When I said I don’t think you’ll kill me.”

“Yeah.” Levi admitted with a sigh. “You were right.”

Erwin smiled, boasting a clear sensation of victory.

“But you are leaving. Now. Come on, I’ll take you.”

“Can I ask a question?” 

And so it began. 

“You haven’t asked for permission so far, why start now?” Levi grumbled as he walked on ahead. 

“Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”

This might just end up being the longest hour of his life. 

“You see a tailors around here?”

“We have one in town.” 

Levi didn’t answer, instead he picked up the pace somewhat, and heard Erwin have move faster behind him to ensure he kept up. They walked for a while longer with nothing said between them, which was just perfect. Of course, all good things come to an end. 

“Don’t you get cold?”

The kid had clearly dressed for weather outside of the walls, Levi could see him try to rub away the chill from his arms as he walked. It would be summer now, a time of year which was always pleasant in this part of the world, not that it made much of a difference inside the forest. 

“You get used to it.”

“Levi?”

He tried to ignore him, but after his name was repeated another three times, it became obvious that Erwin wasn’t one to give up so easily. 

“What?” 

“Are you stuck here? In this forest?” 

Levi stopped and turned around to see that Erwin had stopped several paces ago, focusing on him with an unsettling stare. He was an unusual one, and in another time, another place, perhaps Levi would have found it intriguing. Now it was nothing but a hassle, and he wished he had it in him to abandon the kid, leave him to find his own way out and not care if he managed it or not. 

“If I answer, promise you’ll hurry the hell up and get outta here?” 

That same intense look held for a further few seconds, until Erwin gave a nod. 

Levi took a breath. They were still some distance from the edge of the forest, but the air carried that awful metal tang, the one thing that he’d never gotten a slight bit used to, no matter how many years would slip away behind him. 

“Yeah, you could say I’m stuck here.”


	4. Chapter 4

Without sparing even a second after answering, Levi started walking once more along the barely-there path, stepping over a fallen branch and avoiding a mushroom larger than Erwin’s entire head, oozing something horrific looking. Erwin was extra careful to keep as far away from it as possible. The trees were much thinner towards the outskirts of the forest, Erwin guessed only five or so of his biggest steps would be needed to circle the trees here, but there wasn’t time to check. 

“What do you mean you’re stuck here?”

“What’d I say? Come on.” 

Erwin wanted to push more. There were still a hundred, maybe even a thousand questions sitting on his tongue like a cat waiting to pounce but while he wasn’t scared of Levi, he’d come to learn, after many a scolding from teachers when asking one question too many, that there was a time to draw back. At least for a short while.

Levi had started walking several paces ahead and each time Erwin tried to chase up and keep beside him, he would only walk a little faster, so Erwin settled on strolling behind, using it as an opportunity to observe the demon before him. He spent some time following the tail that swished from side to side as Levi walked. It looked a similar colour to that of his horn, the crystal-like texture creeping about half way up his back, almost like scales. 

Once he felt enough time had passed, Erwin asked some simpler questions: “What’s this?” or “What’s that.” At least three times he asked Levi whether or not something was poisonous, there being a whole host of plants in here that Erwin didn’t recognise at all. He wondered if his father would know what they were. As Erwin asked more and more questions, he came to expect Levi’s answers to be delivered with as few words as possible, but no matter how hard he tried to accept what he was given, Erwin couldn’t help feeling dissatisfied. 

In what felt like much less time than it took on the way in, they arrived at the wall, Levi stopping a good twenty steps from it. Erwin didn’t want to leave just yet, but from here he could get a good view of the sky telling him it was already late afternoon, possibly early evening, and there was still a bit of trek to make it back home. He hoped he wouldn't be late for dinner. 

Erwin took slow steps forwards, but it was clear that Levi wouldn’t be going any further, having crossed his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. 

“Next time, I’ll bring you some clothes.” Erwin called back once he reached the wall.

“Hey, there’s no next time, kid.” 

Erwin looked Levi up and down. “You’re shorter than my father, but I’ll try to find something that’ll fit you.”

He climbed up to the hole in the wall. One of the stones wiggled loose beneath his hand, but he managed to catch himself and not slip backwards. He had to be careful not to dirty himself even more, he thought, noticing for the first time the muck beneath his nails.

To his surprise, Levi was still there when he looked back over his shoulder, eyes fixed on him. Erwin waved goodbye. Levi didn’t.

During the walk home, Erwin thought about his encounter. His father was right, the Demon of the forest wasn’t the evil being all the townsfolk claimed him to be. Maybe he was a bit grumpy, but he was not at all that scary for a Demon. If anything, he just looked a bit sad. Erwin had been told that he’s not good at reading people, but he would bet his last silver coin that Levi was lonely.

He couldn’t figure out why the forest was considered out of bounds; some students in the year above him received a rap on their knuckles for only suggesting a venture to the walls one day after school. More than anything, Erwin wanted to ask his father about all of this. He had no doubt his father would be interested. They shared many things, their thirst for knowledge being one of them, but his father had seemed incredibly serious when warning Erwin not to come here. He couldn’t let his father know that he'd disobeyed him, not until he had information interesting enough that it would overshadow any possible anger or disappointment, at least. Perhaps some concrete proof that it wasn’t dangerous at all would be enough. Surely Levi must know why the forest was considered the way it was. 

Erwin decided that he would have to write down a list of questions for next time as there were just too many in his head to remember, and he couldn’t miss asking a single one. 

The lamplighter was already making his rounds by the time Erwin stepped through the back door to his house. The smell of stew heavy in the air reminded him just how hungry he was, his stomach rumbling as he took a huge sniff. He sat by the door to untie his laces and remove his shoes, speckled with dirt despite his care to avoid the wetter patches of mud. 

“Where have you been?” 

His mother peered through the door, ladle in a tight grasp in her hand. 

“I was out playing.” 

“Playing?” She exclaimed, her voice rising. “Oh Erwin, for heaven’s sake looks at the state of your clothes.” 

Erwin stood and looked down at the smudge of green from grass, or perhaps moss along the side of his beige shorts, a thick line of dirt running along his right sleeve. 

“Melissa, leave him be.” Erwin’s father said, coming into the kitchen. “He’s a child, that’s what they do. It’ll wash right out” 

“And it’s late.” She was getting worked up, her bottom lip trembling, the fingers of one hand frantically fighting with the other. “Anything could have happened. How many times-”

“He’s back before dark, just as we’d agreed.” Erwin’s father placed a hand on her shoulder, attempting to soothe her with brushing motion of his thumb, but her eyes grew wet and her breathing heavy. 

“Son, go eat your dinner. Your mother’s tired, I’m going to help her lie down.” 

Erwin nodded, kicked off his shoes, scrubbed his hands clean, and sat down in his seat at the table where a full bowl of stew waited for him. His mother’s eyes looked straight through him as she walked past, her arm linked through his father’s. The stew was lukewarm by the time he took the first bite, but it was as delicious as always. Lately, his mother had been having more of her ‘bad days’ as his father called them, but her cooking was consistently superb, easily the best out of all of Erwin’s friend’s parents. Despite the grumbling of his stomach, he ate slow, savouring each taste. Even so, he was scooping up the remains of the meal by the time his father rejoined him, offering a warm smile as he ate his stew, no doubt cold by that point. 

“Once I’ve finished this, let’s get you cleaned up. My, you even have dirt on your nose, Erwin.”

Erwin shrunk down in his seat, feeling as if he’d let him down, but when his father gave him a warm grin, he gave one in return. 

“I made a new friend today.” Erwin said, tilting his head back to allow his father to spread the shampoo to the front of his hair. “Well, I think he’s my friend. I think he doesn’t have any friends, so maybe he doesn’t know how to have friends.”

“Is that so? Is he from your school?”

“No.” He paused for a second, reminding himself that he had to keep Levi a secret for now. “But I can’t tell you any more than that.”

His father hummed curiously as he scooped water into an old jug, reminding Erwin to close his eyes as he rinsed away the bubbles clinging to his hair. “And why’s that?”

“He’s shy,” Erwin said, wiping the water from his face so he could open his eyes. For all he knew, Levi could be shy, so he wasn’t lying. Not really. “So, I have to keep him a secret for now.”

Erwin knew he’d already said too much, but he was so eager to share just a snippet of his day, and he was so used to telling anything and everything to his father. Telling a half truth felt much less of a burden than keeping a whole secret. His father only chuckled in response, promising to not ask any more questions about Erwin’s new friend.


	5. Chapter 5

True to his word, the next time Erwin made the trip to the forest he carried with him a light shirt he hadn't seen his father wear in months and an old pair of trousers usually worn when working in the garden, so Erwin was sure they wouldn't be missed. He bundled them up and concealed them beneath a cardigan hooked over his arm, and he was mostly sure that was a good enough trick. For a long while, he considered taking a pair of shoes to complete the outfit, thinking of Levi’s feet treading atop the forest’s discarded pieces, but his father only had fours pairs so the absence of one would surely be noticed. He hoped Levi didn’t mind. In any case, Erwin was sure they would only hang from Levi’s feet.

It had been a whole week since he stepped out from the forest’s walls, unable to find an opportunity to return earlier. The summer break was only a few weeks away, and with a whole month off school, he planned to visit more often then. The more times he went, the more questions he’d be able to ask and the more he could learn, he surmised. 

Only once he reached the hole did he wonder whether he’d be able to find Levi again, it was a big forest after all. He looked up at the wall, stretching so far into the distance in both directions that from here he couldn’t see where it began or ended. Did Levi have the entire forest to himself? Erwin didn’t recall seeing anything else when he was last in there, not a single creature, not even an insect. 

It was difficult to climb through the hole with the clothes tucked under his arms, but he thought it would be a shame to have taken clean clothes only to drop them to the ground while he crawled through. He brushed some dirt from his elbow and headed in the direction he remembered taking the previous week, taking note of the memorable features of this path: a tree twisting around itself, its branches curling like snakes, a pit that seemed full of a black mud as thick as treacle, a row of purple plants that seemed to have mouths gaping wide open, desperate for prey that would never come. 

“I told you not to come back here.” 

Erwin’s cheeks reddened when the voice coming so suddenly from behind made him jump. He didn’t want Levi to think he was so easily scared. 

Before he had a chance to even look over his shoulder, there was a hand grabbing the collar of his shirt turning him around and pushing him back the way he’d just come. With a twist and a wiggle, Erwin managed to free himself from Levi’s grasp, spinning back round to face the demon and held out the clothes with his arms stretched forward.

“I brought you something to wear.” 

“Go home, kid.” 

“It’s rude to say no to a gift.” Erwin said with a pout, keeping his eyes above Levi’s waist. 

“You’re that bothered by my dick?”

Erwin gasped. Seeing it was one thing, but it was that sort of language that had Nile’s mouth washed out with soap by his mother, and quite often too. 

“You can’t say that.” 

“What?”

“That word.” His cheeks, which had only just calmed, warmed up once more. “It’s a naughty word.”

A terse few seconds passed with the two of them glaring at the other, both insistent on not backing down. Erwin half expected to be stood like that for the rest of the day, but Levi eventually gave in, rolling his eyes with a heavy groan. 

“Gimme the clothes then.”

Erwin felt it appropriate to turn round while Levi was dressing, even if he’d already seen him completely without clothes, but when he heard a huff and a sigh, he couldn't help but peek. Levi was much shorter than his father, that much was obvious only at a quick glance. His father was taller than many of the men in town, apart from Mike’s father, of course, no one was taller than him. But the clothes that Erwin had brought hung from Levi like drapes, the shirt skimming his knees like a nightgown. He watched as Levi roughly tucked the shirt into the trousers which he had to roll up the legs for the cuffs to not drag along the floor. They were still too baggy for his waist though, threatening to slip down as soon as he released his hands. Levi looked around, spotted a vine hanging from a low branch and tugged it. It came from the tree easily enough, and he pushed it through the belt loops, tying it in a knot at the front. Maybe Erwin would get away with taking a belt next time, even string would be better than a vine. 

“Happy now?” 

Erwin turned round fully and nodded, a wide grin breaking out. “You won’t be as cold now.”

“I told you I’m used to it.”

“You shouldn't have to get used to something you don’t like.”

There was something odd with how Levi looked at him then, Erwin couldn’t read his expression at all. He wondered if he’d said something wrong. 

“It’s okay though,” Erwin said, assuring Levi with a smile. “I’m here now so I can bring anything you need.”

Levi’s reaction was not what he’d expected, he only frowned, a deep one that had his eyebrows scrunching at the bridge of his nose. Had he made Levi angry? Surely not. Erwin was sure they were on their way to being friends now. 

Levi, however, didn’t seem to share the same sentiment. “You’ve had your fun. Now get outta here.” He said with a wave of his hand as if he were shooing away a puppy, or perhaps a fly, and it didn’t sit well with Erwin, his excitement fading in an instant. 

“But I just got here.” Erwin muttered, disappointment like a weight in his throat. Levi was all alone in this forest, as far as Erwin could assume in any case, and so he thought he’d be grateful for the company, but instead it seemed entirely the opposite. 

“And I wanted to ask some questions.” He added, forcing his voice to be loud and strong, resolving to not leave until they were answered. In his haste to leave the house without his parents noticing the stolen clothes, he’d forgotten to bring the slip of paper with the questions he’d been working on all week, but Erwin was sure he could remember the most important ones. 

“Kid, I don’t care.”

Demons were no different after all, Erwin realised, annoyance bubbling hot in his stomach. Levi was just like every grown-up in town, short on patience and unwilling to listen.

“Stop calling me that.” Erwin demanded, stomping his foot on the ground.

“What?”

“Kid.”

“How old are you anyway?”

“Eight.” Erwin answered, pulling on the buttons of his shirt, unwilling to look Levi in the eye as his confidence crumbled. “But I’ll be nine soon.” That was a bit of a lie. His birthday was still a whole four months away.

“So what else am I supposed to call you? You’re a kid. And you shouldn’t be here.”

“My name is Erwin, so call me Erwin. And I came here to meet you, and be your friend.”

“I don’t need friends. Especially a weird little kid like you.”

Erwin felt prickling at his eyes, a thick wetness growing in his throat. He wouldn’t cry. He’d been called worse. He would not allow himself to cry, not in front of Levi.  
“You’re not fun at all!” Erwin shouted, his hands balled into fists. “You’re mean. And grumpy.” No matter how hard he tried to control it, his breaths came out unsteady. “I hate you.”

“Then why’re you still here?” Levi hit back, his words biting out with a hiss. “I don’t need this.” He tugged the shirt over his head and tossed it at Erwin’s feet, the faded grey becoming dusted with brown as it rolled along the ground. “And I don’t need you.” 

The forest had never seemed so quiet up until that moment, the air so still that the trembling of Erwin’s bottom lip seemed to shake his entire body, his heartbeat like a drum in his ears. “No wonder you’re all alone.” Erwin said, every bit of effort made to keep his voice from breaking, and with that he ran off.


	6. Chapter 6

Erwin didn’t stop running until each breath felt like needles in his chest and his legs wobbled like jelly beneath him. He didn’t need Levi either. He already had Nile and Mike, they were all the friends he needed. There was nothing to gain from coming here anymore, he’d learned all he needed to about this forest; it was cold, damp and in it lived a grumpy demon who only had horrible things to say.

Once he’d captured his breath and his eyes had dried, he set off again, dragging his feet as he shuffled back. After a little while though, Erwin started to doubt he knew where he was going, unsure whether or not he recognised the tree stump that seemed to have the face of a ghoul. Perhaps he should turn back. He looked behind him but there was just the one long path, so he couldn't have possibly have made a wrong turn somewhere. The longer he spent checking the two directions, the more unsure he became, nervousness overwhelming him until he bit at his thumb to try and calm it. This forest didn’t scare him, but he felt drained and disappointed, and the last thing he wanted was to be lost in there. Taking a deep breath, he chose to continue in his original direction, and sure enough, in no time at all he spotted a plant he was sure he recognised, its dark red stem easily as thick as his leg twisting out from the ground and plunging straight back in. If he was correct, then another few minutes or so would have him at that black mud pool he’d made a mental note of earlier. Erwin was almost giddy with relief when he did indeed spot it, nestled at the bottom of a steep bank, knowing that he wasn’t too far from the wall now. Having set off not long after finishing breakfast that morning, Erwin was sure that it wouldn't even be noon yet. Levi was of no help at all, but seeing as Erwin had come all the way to the forest today for what would probably be his last time, he decided he wasn’t in any rush to go home.

The bank was quite steep, dropping quite dramatically and leading to a deep trench that went as far as Erwin could see, vines and thick shrubbery like a dark green river rushing over the ground. The light wasn’t so good in that part of the forest, the trees up above bursting full with leaves and bristles, and the trees to the side of the trench leaned inward, as if to keep away as much light as possible to smother the mud pit in darkness. From the top of the bank Erwin could see the pit, but he couldn’t tell all too much about it just from looking. 

He picked up twig from the ground, steadied his feet and threw it down the bank. The toss was too hard though, the twig sinking into the mass of green tangles behind the pit. It wasn’t all that big, possibly the size of his living room, so it shouldn’t be so difficult to land something inside. He wandered about with his eyes to the ground scouring for pebbles or small rocks, and once he’d gathered a small handful he stood once more at the top of the bank, leaving a good step between him and the drop. Aiming and throwing weren’t something Erwin was particularly good at, more inclined to indoor activities than he was to sport, but he took his time preparing the toss, closing one eye for better precision, and threw the biggest stone he’d found. He missed. The stone hit the ground just in front of the pit with a thud. Clicking his tongue, Erwin prepared to take another shot. He made it through about half of the collection of stones in his hand, but it was difficult to see whether his stones were hitting it or not. He couldn’t hear a splash of any sort, even with nothing but eerie silence around him, all the stones making a similar smacking sounds, if they weren’t too small to produce any noise at all.

There were a number of trees which seemed to grow vertically from the steep bank, their roots raising the soil just enough to form a small ledge. If he could get just a bit closer, perhaps he would be able to see exactly where the stones were landing, whether they were sinking into the pit or resting on top of it. Maybe it was a trick of the light and it wasn’t a pool of mud at all. It did look different to the mud pools that formed in the woodlands at the other end of town during the wetter season, this one much darker and not shimmering in the light at all. Erwin slipped the remaining stones into his pockets and prepared to make the small leap, taking small steps until his toes kissed the very edge of the bank. He eyed the tree closest to him, a huge mound of soil built up around it’s base, sure as anything he could make it. Bending his knees and swinging his arms to build momentum and courage, he started to count to three aloud.

“One…Two…Thr-”

The air was snatched from his throat as if he’d been punched in the gut when the ground gave way beneath him, his body smacking against the tree he’d been aiming for before being thrown down the bank. Erwin threw out his arms to try and break his fall, but he landed flat on his back, the loose dirt and sodden leaves providing no friction whatsoever, allowing him keep sliding down to the bottom, rolling so quickly the world was but a blur. Despite the pain and dizziness, Erwin kept up his desperate attempts to cling on to something, but a mound of dirt at the bottom of the bank threw him into the air, and he hit the pool of mud with a sickening squelch. 

It took a few seconds for the dizziness to subside enough for Erwin to open his eyes, and a few second more to be able to take his first gulp of air, painful as it was against his ribs. He tried to push himself up, but Erwin realised he was slowly sinking, half of his body already submerged. He tried kicking with his feet to get himself upright, but it became clear that is wasn’t normal mud, far too thick and sticky, much like a disgusting syrup. Though he knew it to be a useless effort, Erwin called for help, his voice small, each breath still uncomfortable.

Trying to not panic, he looked at where he lay. His right arm was free of mud, and he was close enough to the sides that his fingertips were able to just brush the edge of the pool so long as he ignored his body’s aching and stretched as far as he could. There was a tree root protruding from the ground barely a hand’s width from where Erwin could reach, so if he dragged himself forward just a little bit further, then maybe he could grab hold. It took more strength than Erwin knew he had, but he managed to wrap his fingers around the root, and with the last of his strength he pulled himself forward and fought against the grip of the mud to release his left arm too.   
He clung to the tree root as tight as he could with both hands, not releasing his grip for even a second even as his shoulders shook and his legs were slowly dragged deeper below. It felt like he was being pulled down, and he couldn’t imagine anything other than tens of hands clinging to his clothes. 

Was there a bottom to this, or would he just keep sinking deeper and deeper?

Erwin was scared. He’d never thought of death much before, certainly not when it came to his own, but as he thought of dying here, that day, to never be able to hear his father’s stories, to taste his mother’s cooking, to play hide-and-seek with his friends, he couldn’t help but cry, wishing he’d never come to this forest.


	7. Chapter 7

It started as a ringing in Levi’s ear, which quietened to make way for a dull throb beating against his skull. He chose to ignore it though, having no doubt it was but a simple reaction to his outburst, unable to remember how long it had been since he’d raised his voice like that. Even his throat felt like he’d dragged a sharp stone along the inside. Maybe he was too hard on the kid, but a child cosying up to him was one of the last things he needed, and though he couldn’t see it just yet, it was the last thing the kid needed, too. 

There was a slight chill in the air, more so than usual, especially for that time of day. With a sigh, Levi retrieved the shirt from the ground, brushed off the dirt, and slipped it over his head. It certainly wasn’t a horrible shirt, made soft with years of use. It clearly belonged to a giant though, he thought, having to tuck it deep into the trousers. He took a step back towards the forest’s centre and the ringing struck once more with violent urgency. There was no way he could ignore it a second time. Levi tried to focus on it, closing his eyes to block out everything else. They shot open when he realised what it was; Erwin was in trouble. 

“Shit.” He hissed through gritted teeth. Sniffing at the air, he sought out the boy, attempting to discern his whereabouts. Though he could just about locate him, Levi couldn’t figure out what had happened, his senses not being what they used to be. What’d that damn kid got himself into? With a groan and another few curse words thrown to the air, Levi set off at full sprint, following Erwin’s scent. It didn’t take too long for him to realise that he couldn’t run with trousers as loose as those he was wearing, so he tore them off before continuing. As he got closer, the scent became stronger, tightly woven with fear and panic, and Levi could understand exactly what happened. The mud pit. If Levi didn’t get there in time, well, it wouldn’t be the first life lost to it. 

He heard Erwin before he saw him, a weak, pathetic whimper that a human wouldn’t have been able to hear from that distance. It didn’t take much longer to get there. Levi saw Erwin grasping to a tree root, everything below his shoulders submerged in the pit. Even from there he could see Erwin was quickly losing his strength, his two hands shaking with the effort, so he wasted no time and jumped down, his feet skidding down the bank. Erwin looked up when he heard Levi’s feet hitting the ground at the bottom, too tired to even show relief. “Levi?” 

“I’m here, kid.” 

“Please. Help.”

“What d’ya think I’m here for?” Levi said, trying to sound comforting while knowing he couldn’t make it sound all too convincing, and offered Erwin his hand. “Gimme your right arm.”

Erwin was hesitant to let go of the tree root, the panic clear to see on his face, but he did let go, allowing Levi to grab his upper arm. He did his best to not catch Erwin with his claws, but he saw him wince. Erwin didn't complain though, choosing to hold out his left arm too. Levi took it, made sure his grip was strong, planted his feet on the ground and pulled Erwin forward. It wasn’t easy, but Levi didn’t let go, and just as he thought the kid’s shoulders might dislocate before he could even free only his torso, Levi was able to wrench him from mud. Though coated in treacle-colour muck all the way up to his armpits and desperately panting for breath, the kid was alive. 

“You need to be more careful.” Levi snapped, his words coming out harsher than he’d meant them to. “You’re protected from the curses, but there’s still dangerous shit in here that even you aren’t safe from.”

Erwin wiped his eyes on a patch of his forearm not spattered in flecks of mud. “What do you mean?” He asked, each word accompanied with a weak hiccup.  
Levi tutted at himself. Always saying too much at the wrong time.

“Nothing.” He sighed, ignoring Erwin’s pout. That face seemed to be an awful habit of his. “I shouldn't have let you run off alone like that.” Levi meant it as a weak apology, and he wasn’t entirely sure if Erwin understood it as such, but after a moment or two Erwin looked away before replying with one of his own.

“I’m sorry I said I hated you.” 

“You aren’t the first.”

Levi looked over at Erwin still catching his breath, and kneeled down when he noticed for the first time that he was bleeding from somewhere, his once golden hair was matted red and dark brown, and a trail of drying blood down the side of his face curved round a swollen cheek bone. He must have fallen down the bank, but he didn’t seem to be taking too much notice of his injuries. But Levi thought too soon, as just as it seemed that he’d calmed down, Erwin started crying. Damnit. Tears were certainly something Levi couldn't deal with.

“Why’re you crying? You’re alive, aren’t you?” He said, his voice as positive as he could muster in attempt to deflect the kid’s attention away from the pain.

“My clothes.” Erwin muttered, sniffling once more as his eyes grew wet. “And my shoes.” He pointed down at his feet where his shoes once were, not a speck of white left on his sock, one of which had slid down past his heel. They must have slipped off when Levi tugged him from the pit. 

“My mother’s going to be so angry.”

“You’re scared of her?”

Erwin stopped to think, his eyes chasing his thoughts. “No.” He eventually replied, his breathing calming somewhat. “But this’ll upset her. And I don’t like making her sad. That makes Papa…my father, it makes him sad too.”

Levi wondered about Erwin and his family, about his home, about the town. Had the town changed much since he last saw it? Levi didn’t know much about the kid, and he knew even less about the world beyond those walls, no more a part of it as a page torn from a book once it had been burned to ashes. 

Beside him, Erwin shifted to get up but he could barely stand with the weight of the mud clinging to his clothes. 

What a pitiful sight. 

“Take off your clothes and put this shirt on” Levi said, pulling off the one he was wearing. 

“But I brought those clothes for you.” 

It took a strength Levi thought he no longer possessed to not roll his eyes. He couldn’t decide if the kid was overly righteous or just stupid. 

“It’s just for now. We’ll try and get those clothes cleaned up a little.”

“And where are your trousers?” Erwin queried, sounding so offended. At least he wasn't crying anymore. 

“I had to leave them behind. I couldn’t run in them,” he admitted, though Erwin didn’t look entirely convinced. “I’ll get them on the way back.”

Erwin peeled off his clothes and Levi shook as much of the mud from them as possible. They weren’t going to be easy to clean. Erwin scraped the dirt from his arms and legs before tugging his father’s shirt over his head. It fell down to his ankles, his arms were entirely lost in the sleeves, and Levi couldn’t help but think he looked pathetic, like a lost, wounded animal. How’d he get involved with this?

“Can you walk?”

Erwin nodded, but Levi could see his knees trembling, begging for permission to give out.

“Idiot, don’t lie. Come on, I’ll carry you. It’ll be faster anyway.”

There was no protest, pride being no match to Erwin’s exhaustion, so Levi hooked his arms beneath Erwin’s legs and torso, and did his best to keep the muddy clothes in his hands from further spoiling the white shirt Erwin was wearing.

Jumping up the bank in two easy bounds made Levi realise that carrying Erwin was definitely for the best, not being able to imagine trying to encourage the kid to climb up it himself. He’d probably end up stumbling and rolling straight back in the pit.

“You jump high.” Erwin mumbled, his eyes fluttering as he fought against the pull of sleep. Levi could have laughed at the sight of his eyebrows far too large for his face scrunching together. The centre of the forest was another hour’s walk away if he were to keep at this gentle pace. He could halve it if he ran, but while the kid was asleep Levi was free from mindless chatter so he kept his steps light and his arms as still as he could manage.


	8. Chapter 8

The first thing Erwin noticed when he woke up was the pain, a fierce ache in his arms and shoulders, and what felt like bruises blossoming over his whole body, a particularly sore one pulsing hot on the side of his head. His eyelids couldn’t be persuaded to open full at first, but he fought against the stinging of his eyes as he pushed himself up, yelping as his body protested his movements.

“Finally awake?”

“Where…Where are we?”

Erwin looked around, perplexed by the lush green grass beneath him in an area no bigger than his school yard. Colourful petals were spattered about here and there, as if someone had wildly flicked a loaded paintbrush until their arms tired.

“My home, I guess.” Levi replied with a shrug. He was tending to a small fire with his back to Erwin, who was relieved to see that the Demon had retrieved his trousers and was wearing them. Erwin’s clothes hung on a makeshift drying rack made of branches and twigs next to the fire, a log glowing orange at its centre. Only his lower legs stuck out from the shirt he was wearing, but Erwin could just about feel the heat washing over his feet and brushing against his nose and cheeks.

“We’re not in the forest.”

“No, we are. We’re in the centre. This is the one place the curse hasn’t affected.”

Blinking away the grogginess and concentrating a little more, Erwin could see that the pleasant green surrounding him gave way to the dark forest beyond, looming all around as if doing all it could to swallow them whole as soon as it had the chance.

“What curse?” Erwin asked, his thoughts still heavy under slight dizziness. He brought up his arm and, as gentle as he could manage, prodded the side of his head. It was nowhere near gentle enough and he flinched, but he did his best to not make a sound.

“See how it looks in here.” Levi said, gesturing with the arm not poking at the fire in front of him. “Nice huh, all green and flowers and shit. This is what the whole forest used to look like.”

Erwin listened, trying not to show his surprise that Levi answered a question of his with no resistance, but he couldn’t hold back from firing more questions as soon as Levi paused for a breath.

“So what happened? Why is the forest like it is? Does it really kill people? Why am I okay in here?”

It wasn’t a pleasant glare that Levi threw over his shoulder at Erwin. Erwin didn’t know if Levi had the shortest of tempers, or if Erwin himself was really that annoying, and he wasn’t at all sure which of those was preferable. Levi prodded at the log in the fire once more, splitting it along the middle and sending embers spurting into the air crackling like grease in a pan. Seeming to be satisfied, Levi dropped the stick to the ground, stood and walked over to Erwin, opting to take a seat next to where he lay propped up on an elbow.

“I’m not gonna tell you what happened here or why the forest is the way it is.” Levi began. Erwin frowned, this was off to a disappointing start indeed. “But yeah, this forest can kill people. Or much worse.”

“What’s worse than dying?” Erwin was sure he’d come close to it back in that mud pit, and there couldn’t possibly be anything more awful than that feeling. He couldn’t think of anything no matter how hard he thought.

“I’d tell you, but you’re a bit of a wimp. You might get nightmares.” Levi said, completely unfazed by Erwin’s look of offence. “As for why you’re fine coming in here…” He paused, and Erwin didn’t realise he was holding his own breath as he waited for the answer. Erwin thought Levi was going to keep him waiting forever, but with a heavy sigh, he continued. “Well, you’ve got Sorcerer’s blood.”

“What?” Erwin couldn’t have heard that correctly.

“And Demon magic can’t harm Sorcerers.”

“So, this curse, the one in the forest, it’s Demon magic?”

“You’re a clever kid, aren’t you?”

“But then why-”

“That’s enough for now.” Levi said, speaking louder than Erwin in an obvious ploy to drown out his question. It was annoying, and Erwin intended to tell the Demon as much, but Levi looked up and Erwin followed his gaze, noticing for the first time that the sky could be seen up above them, the tall trees surrounding them bowing away slightly from this area, the branches curling in on themselves.

Levi stood up, stretching out his limbs and tail. “The sun’s gonna set in about an hour. We’d better set off.”

“Huh?”

“You need to get home, don’t you?”

Erwin certainly did, the odd combination of grogginess and confusion and excitement made him unable to put his words together, so he gave a small nod instead. Though Levi had no sympathy for his current state, it seemed, throwing his now dry clothes at his face when he wasn’t paying attention.

“They’re not perfect, but I did my best to get the dirt off. The rips I can’t do anything about though.”

The white of his shirt was closer to the colour of his morning porridge now, and one of the trouser pockets had ripped nearly clean off, only a few threads left holding it together. There was no way his parents wouldn’t notice, but at least he wouldn’t have to walk through town like some sort of sticky mud monster.

“Thank you, Levi.”

It was becoming clear that, not only was this Demon not evil or cruel like the rumours had painted him, but there was kindness within him. Levi looked back at Erwin, his face set still with a stoney expression that Erwin couldn’t read. The kindness was evidently pretty deep down, but it was there.

“Don’t mention it.”

Though he didn’t act at all pleased about having to do so, Levi offered to give Erwin a piggyback ride to the wall. Erwin had no idea how he was going to explain to his parentsthe state of his clothes, or how he’d managed to lose both of his shoes, and he was sure they would be overly concerned with his injuries, asking more questions than he could answer. When dressing himself, Erwin had seen the numerous grazes and splotches of red and purple over his body, though they still looked nowhere near as painful as they felt. Perhaps he could hide the worst of them by insisting on washing his own hair from now on, but he was always given trouble for not properly rinsing away the bubbles from behind his ears on the rare occasion he was trusted to do it himself. Thinking of having to keep even more things secret from his parents had knots twisting and turning in his stomach.

“Levi,” Erwin said after they’d been walking for a small while. “What did you mean when you said I had Sorcerer’s blood? Sorcerers aren’t real, surely.”

“But Demons are?”

Erwin hummed in response. It was true that until meeting Levi he didn’t much believe in Demons and magic. But to now be told about Sorcerers as well, it all sounded too much like one of his fantasy stories.

“Sorcerers, Demons, magic, it all used to be commonplace” Levi said, shifting Erwin higher on his back with careful movements. “Sorcerers’ magic was quite basic, but they could summon Demons, whose magic is…well it’s a lot stronger.”

“So you have magical power?”

“I do.”

“What kind?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

“And you don’t answer a lot of questions.” Erwin mumbled, resting his chin on Levi’s shoulder. The forest was growing darker with each passing minute, the shadows seeming to come alive as Levi walked forward, and Erwin swore he could hear things through the silence, but for some reason he’d never felt safer on this side of the wall.

“So, I’m a Sorcerer?”

“No. Sorcerers weren’t exactly human. I’m not getting into it now, but one of your ancestors would’ve been a Sorcerer.”

“Can I do magic?”

“No. But…” Levi stopped himself there, and Erwin wondered for a moment if he had simply forgotten what he was going to say. “No, you only have protection from Demon magic.”

That was a little disappointing to say the least. Erwin couldn’t imagine anything as impressive as wielding magic, but he supposed being able to come to forest unharmed was fortunate. He’d been able to meet Levi after all.

“How do you know?”

“Know what?”

“That I’ve got Sorcerer’s blood.”

“I can smell it.”

Erwin recoiled slightly. He thought it sounded far too strange, but he still tried to sneak a sniff. It was a pointless effort, he could only smell the thick dampness that hung in the air, though he was sure it hadn’t rained in well over a week.

“What does it smell like.”

Without missing a beat, Levi said, “Damn awful.”

“Levi, that’s mean.” Erwin cried in response, burying his head into Levi’s back, “I don’t smell awful.”

Erwin had planned to use the time it took to walk back to ask all of the questions he’d thought up over the week, but the steady rocking as Levi took each step only gave strength to his lingering tiredness, and much to his dismay, by the time he opened his eyes again he could just about see the wall ahead with what little light the retreating sunlight offered.

“How far d’you have to go?” Levi asked him as he knelt down, allowing Erwin to slip from his back.

“I don’t know the exact distance,” Erwin said after a long yawn. “But maybe thirty minutes.”

He tried not to think of attempting to find his way home in the dark while wearing no shoes, never mind the scolding that no doubt waited for him at home. He’d broken the one and only hard rule of being back before dark, and his parents were probably going to be angry, his mother for sure. He just hoped that she was having one of her better days.

“Can I come again, Levi?”

“And if I say no?”

“Then I won't come…I guess.” Erwin muttered, trying and failing to hide his disappointment. He had his friends, and they were perfectly fine and fun to be around, but the time spent with them was nothing like the time spent with Levi. It hadn’t been perfect up until that point, Levi had been grumpy and Erwin had almost died, but he felt he could get so much more from this. He had no doubt that he’d never experienced excitement quite like this.

“Fine” Levi groaned, sounding as if he were giving in after a gruelling battle. “On one condition.”

Elated, Erwin nodded frantically, more than willing to accept conditions.

“Come in the morning, same day next week, and meet me here. Any later than noon and I won’t be here. If I’m not here, you go home. You got me?

“Okay!”

“No more wandering in here alone, unless you wanna get yourself killed.”

Erwin certainly didn’t want that. He thought it quite silly for Levi to even say, not being able to manage anyone wanting that. There were a lot of things that Levi said that didn’t completely make sense to Erwin, and often he was so unlike many of the adults in town. Erwin still had no doubt that his father was the smartest person there was, but Levi seemed inherently wiser, much like the old men at the park talking about days gone by.

“Right, now leave.” Levi gave Erwin a push on the shoulder before taking a step back and crossing his arms.

Not wanting Levi to change his mind, Erwin did as he was told and walked towards the wall. Once he reached it however, he couldn’t help but wonder.

“You’re not that big.” He said, sizing up Levi with his eyes and looking at the hole above him. “I’m sure you’ll fit through. Come with me.”

“I can’t.”

“But why? I can come in and out of here. And the people in town are really mean about you, but they just don’t know you.”

If Erwin could convince anyone in the town to give Levi a chance, it would surely be his father. After everything, it seemed awfully sad to leave him in here all by himself.

“Go home, kid.”

“We could even make the hole bigger, some of the stones are really loose.”

“It’s not the wall keeping me in here.” Levi said, his tone sharp and his words tight.

“What do you mean?”

Levi’s face darkened, and Erwin thought he might disappear back into the shadows or perhaps even become one himself, but he stepped forward, slow and cautious as if stalking prey, his eyes never moving off Erwin. Levi took one last step before coming to a stop, and it was then that Erwin noticed a smell like that of something burning and a shrill buzzing that seemed to come from every direction. Still, Erwin couldn’t look away from the Demon, who stood several large paces or so away from him, his horn glistening in the soft, dying orange from the sky above them. Levi pointed a finger towards Erwin’s direction, moving his arm forward, and little by little, the burning and buzzing increased until it became almost unbearable. Erwin covered his ears but it did little to help.A spark burst out from the air, as if Levi’s hand were flint and he’d struck it against steel, but still he moved his hand forward, and even more sparks illuminated the space between them. Levi’s finger started to crack and glow like a log on the fire, and Erwin could see the skin peeling backwards from the tip with a sickening sizzle sound. Even when he finally pulled away, Erwin could hear it still crackling. It must have been agony, though Levi’s face didn’t say as much, remaining as stoney as ever. However, Erwin caught a glimpse of Levi’s hand shaking as he brought it down and tucked it behind his back. Finding his voice, Erwin called out the Demon’s name and made to run over to him, but Levi signalled for him to stop with a flick of his uninjured hand.

“It’s fine.”

But it didn’t seem fine at all, and Erwin only felt awful. Erwin was sure his father was the smartest person in town, and if the test scores were anything to go by then he himself was the smartest child in his class, but right then he’d never felt so foolish.

“Go home.”

It hadn’t been said with anger, but Erwin caught his tongue before he said anything else, knowing that they were both well and truly done for the day. He backed towards the wall with small, cautious steps, his gaze fixed on Levi as an odd sense of fear and sadness curled up in his chest, as if he were the one to have been hurt. He thought it might overwhelm him, but through the darkness Erwin saw Levi raise his hand, his movements seeming to be somewhat unsure as he gave a small, awkward wave.

“See ya next week, kid.”


	9. Chapter 9

Throwing a quick look behind him to double-check for the tenth time that there was no one around, Erwin jogged the last few steps to the wall. After the fall out of coming home last week late and without his shoes, he couldn’t leave this morning until he’d finished all of his chores. It was only for his parents’ concern for Erwin’s countless scrapes and bruises that he didn't find himself grounded for the whole month, believing Erwin’s half-truth of taking a nasty tumble down a hill. 

Erwin had no idea what time it was, but it had to be nearing midday. Hopefully, Levi would still be there. With a count to three, Erwin hoisted himself up to the gap in the wall, a bit more of a struggle than it should have been as he had his hands full. He had wrapped in a chequered cloth a cheese and pickle sandwich, two oat biscuits, and an apple. In his other hand he held one of his favourite books, a tale of a knight in a land of giants, and inside the sleeve was a slip of paper with some hastily scribbled questions. He had been in such a rush to write them last night before his father came to blow out the candle, he wondered if he’d be able to read his own writing. Erwin couldn’t wait to grow up and decide on his own bed time.

Looking up as soon as his feet hit the ground on the other side of the wall, he saw Levi standing beneath the shade of a tree with his arms crossed, as if he hadn’t moved since the week before. Levi gave Erwin a small nod, turned and started walking deeper into the forest. Erwin took that as a sign to follow.

“How’s your hand?” Erwin asked once he’d caught up, noticing that Levi had his right hand tucked into his trouser pocket.

“It’s fine.”

“Can I…Can I see?”

With a tut, Levi held out his hand. His forefinger was a deep red, blistering as if it had been plunged into boiling water only hours before, and scarlet lines like lightning worked their way down from the top of the finger, a few making their way across the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry.” Erwin could barely look at Levi. He seemed to be causing him nothing but trouble lately. “Does it hurt?”

“Now? No. And the mark’ll be gone in a few weeks.” Levi said. “So don’t worry about it.” He added, giving Erwin a weak pat on the head before pushing him, light enough to just give him a slight stumble.

“Hey!” Erwin groaned, only to get a small smirk in return. But seeing that, Erwin was able to smile too.

Even though the summer holidays were just over three weeks away, temperatures high enough to have the townspeople flock to the river on the weekends, the forest felt a different season entirely, as if it were coming up to the end of autumn already. Trying to shake away the chill threatening to settle in his shoulders, Erwin thought that he should have brought a jacket, and he promised himself to try to remember next week.

“Are we going to that nice, green place today?” Erwin wasn’t sure if he should call it Levi’s home, the demon having seemed unenthusiastic about calling it so when they were last there.

“You were late and you’re too slow,” Levi replied with a shake of his head. “By the time we got there it’d be time to go back.”

That was a shame. As fascinated as Erwin was by this cursed forest, there was no denying how dreary it was, walking passed unending rows of dark, cheerless trees, many of them decaying, their bark and branches hanging from them like broken fingernails. Seeing the trees with leaves like flames almost gave Erwin as much enjoyment as the rare occasion he could go to the sweet shop in the market-square. If his hands weren’t full, he would have definitely gathered a leaf from each tree they passed. No trees outside the wall bore leaves quite that colour.

After a while, Levi took them away from the usual path of sorts they’d been walking along, taking a right and weaving through the trees, all while taking care to not drag his shirt along them. Every now and then, Levi cast a look over his shoulder to check how far Erwin was behind him but Erwin kept up the pace, stepping over jagged twigs as deftly as possible. Erwin noticed for the first time that Levi had made a hole in his trousers for his tail to fit through. It swayed lazily in the air, curling about itself, and it made Erwin wonder just how much control Levi had over it.

“Here we are.” Levi said, just as Erwin opened his mouth to ask how much further they had to go.

It was a small clearing with a few tree stumps here and there and an uprooted tree which looked perfect for sitting on, and Levi did just that, but not without brushing away the dirt first. The leaves were dull, and the area was made up entirely of faded greens and greys and soil that resembled ash, but with the small patch of ground unclaimed by trees, the early afternoon light had no trouble painting itself along the clearing making it seem just a little less gloomy. Levi, however, looked as bored as always. Erwin didn’t have to worry though because he’d brought a book, truly the best cure for boredom. Holding the book up so that Levi could see the cover, Erwin was almost buzzing with excitement but it was clearly not a shared feeling, Levi making no change in expression whatsoever. He had to know what a book was, surely. What if he simply didn’t like reading? Erwin didn’t know if he could cope with that, it was enough of a struggle dealing with Nile who would rather chew up book pages and spit them at people than attempt reading them.

Unless it was a different reason entirely.

“Levi, can you read?”

“Of course I can read,” he answered roughly, snatching the book from Erwin’s hands. He flipped open the book half way through, and Erwin was about to scold him for ruining the story by not starting at the beginning, but Levi’s face shifted from mild annoyance to confusion, his eyebrows drawing closer together as he peered closer at the pages. At first Erwin thought he was sniffing the pages, knowing himself the pleasure of the scent of a book, but that wasn't the case at all.

“What’s this?”

“What do you mean?”

Levi looked at him, eyes squinting as if waiting for something unexpected, and looked back at the book in his hands before speaking quietly. “I don’t recognise this writing.”

“But you said you could read?” Erwin said, his own voice barely a whisper. He didn’t know what else to say, Levi’s face looked so lost, and Erwin felt it too. It seemed for a while that Levi wouldn’t reply, his fingers working quickly as he flipped through the pages again and again as if he might recognise something in there if he looked enough.

“Hey, kid. These symbols,”Levi said, pointing at the title on the cover page, “You’ve always used these?”

“Yes…”

“In the town, are there any books, anything with another kind of writing?”

When Erwin didn’t give a reply straight away, Levi put the book down on the stump beside him, grabbed a twig, and cleared away the forest litter to leave an empty patch of soil. He carved three symbols into the dirt. “Anything in town with this sort of lettering?”

Erwin answered with a shake of his head. They weren’t like anything he had ever seen, and he read an awful lot, even when he wasn’t supposed to.

“Levi, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

He didn’t seem so. Not at all. His eyes seemed to not focus on anything, as if they were looking backwards on his own thoughts. This wasn’t going how Erwin had planned. He only thought Levi might appreciate something to do, it seemed awfully boring and lonely in this forest, after all. He pulled at the cuffs on his shirt sleeve, tugging as if he could cover himself entirely in the fabric.

“Would you like me to read it to you?” His cheeks were starting to heat up and Erwin had no idea why. There was a small part of him that expected Levi to be offended, to snap back with irritation, but Erwin was surprised to see Levi give a small smirk, and not an unkind one either.

Levi stretched out his arm, handing the book back to Erwin. “Go on then. It’s been a long time since I heard a good story.”

The relief Erwin felt was nothing to the excitement blossoming in his chest. There was nothing he loved more than reading, even so far to volunteer each and every time his teacher needed a student to read aloud in class.

Erwin sat next to Levi, scooting up close so that Levi could see the pages too. The forest was still somewhat creepy even the third time here, but the still, quiet air made it an almost perfect atmosphere for reading. He must have read this book a hundred times, but working his way through the first chapter was still such a thrill for him.

“So, why doesn’t the knight just attack the giants at night when they’re useless?”

“You’ll find out later.” Erwin groaned, swiftly returning to the story, but it didn’t take too much longer for Levi to speak up again.

“Couldn’t he just ask the witch to make him the same size as the giants?”

“Levi,” Erwin said with a pout, though he tried not to.“Stop interrupting.”

The Demon gave a quick snort, a barely perceptible breath from his nose, but it was the closest thing to a laugh Erwin had heard so far.He didn’t know how to feel about that exactly, but Levi promised to keep quiet from then on, and that was good enough for Erwin to continue.

They managed to read through the first three chapters before Erwin’s stomach growled, a noise that had Levi raising an eyebrow.

“Hungry?”

Nodding in response and closing the book, Erwin picked up his packed lunch, placed it on his lap, and carefully untied the knot. When the cloth fell away and the food was revealed, he was struck with a sudden thought.

“Levi.”

“Hm?” Was the given response, Levi’s face back to its normal bored expression. He’d seemed so much more alive while listening to the story, and Erwin was sure, though Levi complained many times about the story, that he actually enjoyed it more than he’d ever admit.

“Do demons eat food?”

“No, we eat little blonde kids who ask too many questions.”

Erwin frowned, not much appreciating Levi’s attempt at teasing him.

“Well, in that case, I won’t share my lunch with you.”

“I don’t want your lunch.”

Erwin took a bite from his sandwich, starting at the crust. His father was rather poor at cooking, but he was perfectly capable of putting together a sandwich, even adding extra pickles without Erwin having to ask. He only wished he had some milk to wash it down with.

Levi picked up the book once more and thumbed through it to glance at the few pages with pictures. Erwin didn’t fail to notice how careful Levi was when turning the pages, taking care not to catch the paper with his claws, sharp, and black much like the horn curling from his head. Like every time Erwin looked up at it, he couldn’t help but be fascinated; it was like nothing he’d ever seen before.

Sometimes when he managed to get himself a long, few seconds to stare at it, Erwin felt as if it were alive, as much a part of Levi as his skin, his eyes, or his heart, perhaps even something deeper. Moving slow and cautious as if advancing towards a frightened creature backed into a corner, Erwin lifted his hand towards the horn, unable to keep his curiosity tethered down.

“Don’t.”

Levi didn’t shout, and it wasn’t even a snap, but the way he said it had Erwin’s hand stopping before he barely processed it, and he pulled back just as slowly.

“What happened to other one?”

A breeze above the trees had shadows dance across Levi’s cheeks, the only indication that time hadn't stopped still. There was a sad look in his eyes, no longer focused on the book before him.

“Not today, kid.”

It was then that Erwin realised for the first time that Levi often didn’t answer questions not because he was being difficult, not all the time at least, but there were things that were painful even for him. He thought of his father and how he reacted whenever Mrs. Grey from next door asked questions about his mother, often not giving an entirely honest answer. His father always said that there was a difference between curious concern and not minding one’s own business.

“Do you want a bite?” Erwin said, holding his sandwich up towards Levi, as if to rewind and undo the whole interaction, and it seemed to work, Levi’s eyes returning to their usual bored expression.

“I thought you weren’t gonna share.”

“Are you hungry?”

It seemed for a moment that Levi didn’t know the answer, which Erwin thought strange; whenever he was hungry he couldn’t think about anything else.

“I can’t remember the last time I ate.” Levi admitted, his eyes drawn to the food in Erwin’s hand.

“Do you need food to live?”

“No.”

“But do you want some food?”

Levi peered closer at the sandwich Erwin was offering, sniffed at it and recoiled. “I hate pickles.”

“But pickles are delicious.” Erwin replied, sure of this fact as he was that he had eight fingers and two thumbs. It didn’t seem that Levi would change his mind however, barely concealed disgust on his face that didn’t fade until Erwin took the sandwich away.

“I also have this.” He held up the apple, huge, glossy and a beautiful shade of red, Erwin’s favourite. Levi’s eyes seemed to brighten at the sight of it, a completely different reaction to the pickles. “Here.” Erwin said, giving it to him.

Levi hummed, something that Erwin thought might be some sort of thanks, grasped the apple with his two hands, and with a twist split it in two, spraying a fine mist of juice at Erwin’s cheek. Levi handed one half to Erwin without a word and bit off a huge chunk of his own half. Erwin was sure he heard Levi moan in delight, but he didn’t say anything, just smiled as discreetly as he could and let Levi have both of the oat biscuits he’d brought along too.

“How long have you been here, Levi?”

The way he didn’t answer at first, only looking at Erwin slowly, made him think that he wasn’t going to get an answer yet again. He sure had picked a stubborn Demon to befriend. Or perhaps Levi thought Erwin as nosy as his father thought Mrs. Grey from next door. He certainly didn’t want that. As the seconds passed however, Erwin came to conclusion that there was a huge difference; he and Levi were friends after all.

“I stopped keeping track a long time ago.” Levi finally said with a shrug. “Maybe two, three hundred years.”

Erwin couldn’t even imagine that amount of time, it seemed entirely impossible.

“All by yourself?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

“What do you do all day?”

He shrugged. “Wait for the next day, I guess.”

That seemed so sad, and Erwin thought it such a pity that Levi had to spend his days here all alone. He grabbed his book in a hurry, sat himself even closer to Levi, barely a finger’s width between them and placed the book on the Demon’s lap.

“What’re you doing?”

Levi moved himself further along the fallen tree, but Erwin followed.

“I’m going to teach you to read. We don’t have time to finish this today,” Erwin said, tapping the book with his forefinger. “So, if I teach you to read, you’ll have something to do this week, right?”

There wasn’t any sort of response from Levi, but there wasn’t any objection either, so Erwin considered the proposal accepted. This was going to be such fun, he was sure of it.

“And next week I’ll bring more books. But you have to be careful with this one.” Erwin demanded, wagging his finger at Levi. “This is one of my favourite books in the whole world. And you’re my friend, but I want it back.”

Conversing with someone who didn’t make their expressions easy to read was a challenge. Levi had reacted then, but Erwin had no way of knowing if the Demon was looking back at him with discomfort or concealed excitement. He figured he’d have to get to know Levi more to learn how he thought and how he felt, but for now he needed verbal answers, and after only a short time of pestering for a response, Levi agreed to Erwin’s offer and his conditions.

Though Levi argued that it was a more complicated system than he was ever used to, symbols being read one way, before being read another way elsewhere, he’d more or less grasped it just before he declared it time for Erwin to leave. Erwin wanted to be jealous that Levi picked it up so much quicker than he did himself, but he could only feel immense happiness. It made him think that perhaps he was cut out to be a teacher, just like his father.

Having been so absorbed in his task, Erwin hadn’t asked any of the questions he’d prepared. Surely he deserved to ask them now. As they started to make their way towards the wall, Erwin withdrew the slip from the book, and once Levi realised what was happening, he set a hard limit of three questions.

Erwin groaned as he unfolded the paper in his hands. “Are all Demons as strict as you?”

“No. Question two.”

“Hey, no fair!” Erwin stomped his foot on the ground. “That doesn’t count!”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Levi, I didn’t say I had started. You’re not playing by the rules. Levi…”

“Fine.” He responded, his tone low and bored, though Erwin was starting to suspect that Levi only made his voice sound like that. “Go on, question one.”

Erwin couldn’t help but feel gleeful, albeit a bit guilty. He’d hit two birds with one stone with that little slip-up. It seemed, by that answer, that Levi wasn’t the only Demon.

“Okay, question one.” Erwin announced, holding up his piece of paper in front of him.

“Look where you’re going, idiot.”

But he didn’t stop reading the words, even when Levi had to guide him with a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from tripping over the uneven ground.

“Oh, tell me more about Sorcerers. You said Sorcerers weren’t human. So, what were they?”

“Sorcerers looked just like any other human but it doesn’t really matter, most of them are probably dead now.”

Waiting for Levi to continue because surely that couldn’t be all he had to say, Erwin looked up at the Demon, fixing the most serious look he could on his face.

“But, you won’t be happy with just that as an answer. Of course.

“They say that humans were born of blood, demons were born of fire, and Sorcerers crawled up from the muck in between. Just a damn mess really. They can do magic, but not like Demons can. The look human but they don’t age.”

“Can they die?”

“They can be killed.”

Erwin hummed and wondered how Levi knew the answer to that. There were many things Erwin didn’t know about him, but just as he was about to ask Levi, another, more awful question came to mind: Could Demons be killed? And all of a sudden, Erwin found he didn’t have the confidence to ask such sort of questions, unsure whether he wanted to know the answer, which was probably the first time in his entire life.

As if sensing his unease, Levi filled in the silence between them by continuing.

“They were also human enough to have kids with normal humans, but their magic side wasn’t strong enough to create little Sorcerer underlings. Thank fuck.”

Erwin knew he should scold Levi for cursing, but he had no doubt that Levi would pay no attention to him.

“You didn’t like them, did you?”

Levi must have thought the answer too obvious, for he didn’t reply with anything more than a snort. If Erwin was in fact a descendent of a Sorcerer like Levi had said he was, that would perhaps explain why Levi had been so hostile to him at the beginning, Erwin pondered. Though he was pretty sure that the Demon was just in a constant bad mood. It was as if Levi was always in the state of just waking up after a restless night. But looking around him as they walked along the path winding in and out of endless thick, misshapen trees, Erwin realised that most people would be grumpy living behind these walls. It just didn’t seem fair at all.

“Levi, why are you trapped here?”

“Haven’t you asked enough questions today?”

“But you promised me three questions.”

“You’ve asked way more than that.”

That was technically true. Looking at his list, Erwin could already cross a couple of them off as answered, but he wanted the answers that he was owed.

“I could ask another question.” Erwin offered though, his reluctance clear in how he dragged his voice and he made no effort to hide it. He knew this method to work with his parents. He’d never had such luck with his teachers at school. It was a risk hedecided was worth taking.

And the risk paid off. “I pissed off a Sorcerer and he trapped me in here.” Levi said, dragging his claw along the trunk of a tree, giving it three fresh scars. “And without my other horn, I wasn’t strong enough to get out.”

“And that’s why you don’t like Sorcerers?”

Levi sneered. “I didn’t like them long before that. But yeah, that didn’t help.”

Erwin really wanted to ask about Levi’s horn, but he’d already been warned about that today. In any case, he suspected that the missing horn and Levi being trapped in this forest were more strongly related than Levi was admitting. They weren’t the happiest of topics, and although Erwin had much more interesting questions on his list, he decided to allow Levi a break and ask an easy one.

“Can you control your tail?”

Before Erwin even had a chance to look up at Levi to wait for his answer, he felt something flick his right ear, and when he turned to chase the offender wth his eyes, something flicked his left ear too.

“You could’ve just said yes.” Erwin whined, rubbing at both of his ears, though it hadn’t really hurt at all. He watched Levi’s tail curl purposefully in the air before returning to its relaxed position, swaying gently as they walked. Though he couldn’t be sure, Erwin might have seen a soft look on Levi’s face, something resembling a look of humour.

A calm quiet settled between them. The leaves beneath their feet crunched in some places and squelched in others. Erwin knew he’d have to give his shoes a quick rinse at the river at the edge of town if it was still light by the time he reached it. Levi walked only half a step ahead, Erwin’s book tucked under his arm. Even without any sort of evidence to prove either way, Erwin had no doubt Levi would keep it safe. Once he’d said his goodbyes and climbed back through the wall, Erwin started thinking of the book he would bring along with him the following week, sheer joy bubbling light and frothy in his chest.


	10. Chapter 10

It was the first day of the summer holidays and Erwin’s parents seemed intent on keeping him busy, but he didn’t mind all too much. Levi had been making his way through all the books Erwin had taken him, and though it seemed he never had anything good to say about them, it was clear he’d read them thoroughly, always answering Erwin’s questions with detail, giving his response with due thought if need be.   
“Erwin, have you seen my brown trousers?”

Erwin looked up from his clothes drawer where he’d been putting away his freshly folded laundry to see his father’s head poking through his open bedroom door. 

“Which ones?” 

Erwin knew exactly which pair of trousers his father was speaking of.

“The scruffy brown ones, the pair I use for gardening.” 

“I haven’t seen them,” Erwin replied with a small shrug, taking care to keep his eyes on his hands folding the last of his clothes, sure that if he were to make eye contact his father would know straight away that he was fibbing. There had never been such need to keep secrets from his father, so lying to him was not something he was well practiced in. 

His father smoothed his fingers over his beard, a delicate mix of gold and silver. “I suppose I’ll have to wear something else then.” He turned from the door with a hum, and Erwin heard him ruffle through his drawers in the next room to find another pair of trousers. Relief washed over Erwin, clearing away the dizzying sense of worry that had been rushing about in his head. He’d gotten away with it this time, though it was unfortunate that his father had noticed the missing pair of trousers so soon. Erwin had planned on sneaking Levi another set of clothes to wear, just so he had something to change into if he wanted, but there was simply no way Erwin could risk taking another item of his father’s clothes now. He hoped the shirt that he’d also given to Levi wouldn’t be noticed for a long while, if ever.

As Erwin closed his drawer, at last finishing his long list of morning chores, his father reappeared at the door. “Care to help me in the garden, son?”

Erwin nodded, such an easy response with no need for consideration. Following his father’s instructions, he changed into his own set of scruffy clothes intended for doing outside work and joined him in the garden. Erwin wasn’t typically one to participate in things he didn’t excel in or didn’t fully understand, but he was certain that his father knew enough to cover for the both of them. In any case, how could he not enjoy something done alongside his father? There was nothing like being set the task, announcing that he’d completed it to perfection and getting a pat on the shoulder and a heartfelt well done from his father. 

The day was warm, and there was nothing to offer them shade from the sun. There had once been a tree that stretched up tall from the corner of the garden, Erwin remembered attempting to climb it a handful of times, but there had never been branches low enough for him to reach. His father had promised to make a swing with some rope, but it was as if fate itself decided it wasn’t meant to be, and the very day they’d obtained the materials, a storm had descended from the mountains and tore the tree in half. Erwin had always missed the tree for the lost opportunity of his very own swing in his garden, but right now he only longed for some shade. There was sweat beading at his hairline and his shirt clung to his armpits. Though they'd only bathed the night before, it was likely his father would make an exception and have them wash again that night. 

With the weeds all wrenched from the ground, and his father having taken care of the more delicate flowering plants, it was time to harvest the peas from their green stalks, tumbling wildly against the fence at the side of the garden. Copying his father’s technique was easy, and Erwin picked it up quickly, something that didn’t go without praise.

The two of them looked up at the same time when they heard the gate creaking, something his father was always meant to get round to fixing. 

“I’m back.” 

“Melissa, welcome home.” 

His mother pushed the gate shut behind her, jiggling it a little to make it click.

“I’ve only been to the market, Harold,” She said with a gentle sigh, adjusting the basket in her arms before looking over at her husband with an even gentler smile. “There’s no need to welcome me back.”

“My darling, even when you merely step in from the next room, my world becomes that little bit brighter”

With a loud tut she scolded him, but the soft look in her eyes and the playful tilt of her lips betrayed just how much she didn’t mean a word of it. Erwin turned the other way as soon as he noticed his father leaning in to give her a kiss, remaining so until his mother walked up the path, calling for his attention. 

“Erwin, I bumped into Mike’s father on the way back from the market. He said his house is overflowing with apples again this year.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s the same every year.” 

“It is, isn’t it?” She replied with a small chuckle. “They’ve more apple trees than they know what to do with.”

Mike’s family had one of the biggest plots of land out of all the townspeople. Even after market day and a family of eight children and growing, there was always leftover produce. The Smith family were always first in line to receive whatever they couldn’t sell or use. The two fathers had been friends well before Erwin was born, and his father had taught all three of the older Zacharius children, and would no doubt teach all the rest. It was almost inevitable that Erwin and Mike, so close in age, would become close friends. 

“Mr. Zacharius said to head over with a basket and take as many apples that you can carry.”

Erwin looked down at his knees sitting firmly in mud, his hands were spattered with dirt and grass, and the stalks beside him were still heavy with peas waiting to be picked. “Now?” 

“You can go when you and your father are finished,” she said, taking off her hat and fanning her face with it. His mother was quick to warm in the summer months, her cheeks and neck already a deep pink. “How would you like some apple crumble?”

Erwin jumped up, his excitement giving him extra bounce. “That’s my favourite!”

She smiled. “I know it is.”

“Will you make custard?”

“Of course. What would a crumble be without it? But, I can’t make an apple crumble without apples, so go fetch them as soon as you’re done.”

It wouldn’t take any more persuasion than that. Kneeling back on the ground, Erwin returned to his task, and though he wanted to rush through it, he kept calm and plucked the pea pods with care. 

His father chuckled through a sigh. “I don’t know how you can get so excited for an apple crumble, Erwin. It’s the hottest day we’ve had all year.”

“Crumble is perfect in every weather.”

His father laughed, straight from the belly. His mother too, though she hid it behind her palm, as always she was much more subtle in how she displayed her emotion, but it still pleased Erwin. He liked being able to make his parents laugh, especially his mother; he didn’t get to see it so often. 

“You shouldn’t be so surprised, Harold. He gets that sweet tooth from you.” 

His father held up both his hands, “Of that, I am indeed guilty.” 

Both of Erwin’s parents smiled, gentle laughter tumbling from their lips. They shared a look, as if they only saw one another, as if they could speak with only their eyes, something that Erwin felt he would never understand. Grown-ups could be so strange. His father kept his eyes on his mother until she retreated into the house, no doubt much cooler for her in there. 

“Let’s finish this up, and you can head over to Mike’s to get the apples.” 

The basket besides them was filling up slowly, the aroma of the peas dancing around them. Erwin breathed it in and truly believed he could smell the colour green. For a short while he wondered what red and yellow and all the other colours would smell like. 

“So, we’re more than half way through the first day of your summer holidays,” his father said, wiping the back of his hand along his brow. “And you’ve spent it helping out your old man around the garden.”

“And I had to do my chores this morning, like tidy my room.” 

“Well yes, but that’s expected of everyone, not just you.” 

“I know. I don’t mind doing it.” 

There was no doubt he’d rather not do it at all, but he at least knew why he had to do it. He knew he had it much easier than Mike who had to wake up before dawn daily, even during the holidays. All of the farmer families’ children worked so hard, and Erwin knew he had it lucky that his father was a teacher. 

“You’re a good boy, Erwin.” His father patted him on the head, and Erwin was sure his blonde hair was now streaked with green and brown. There was no way he’d finish the day without his mother insisting he scrub himself from head to toe. “Do you have any plans for the rest of the summer? There aren’t too many years left before you’ll have school work to complete over the holidays.”

Erwin knew exactly what he would be doing over the next few weeks: trying to visit Levi as many times as possible. There was no way he could tell his father that though, no matter how much he wanted to. It still wasn’t the right time, he had no idea yet how his father might react. 

“Me and Nile and Mike are going to swim in the river.” That much was true at least. As soon as the last class of the year had finished, they’d all made hurried plans for the summer holidays before heading home, though they hadn’t got much further than that one.  
Erwin found another ripe pea pod, pinched it at the top, twisted, and pulled, taking care not to break the stalk. “And read my books, of course.”

“Is that all? You have a whole eight weeks you know.” 

It was as if his father knew he was hiding something, and even though the thought alarmed Erwin, he didn’t allow it to show. He would have to give a little in order to conceal a lot, but that was if he could do so convincingly. There were many times when he was younger when Erwin was convinced his father could read minds, and he still wasn’t entirely convinced that wasn’t the case. “There’s not much else to do,” he admitted. “Not in town anyway.” 

“That sounds like you’re desperate for more chores, maybe a bit more responsibility around that house.” 

The few wrinkles around his father’s eyes deepened as he laughed, but Erwin didn’t join in. He thought about each time he entered the forest, how there was still a little spark of excitement when he crawled through the wall, when both of his feet would land on the other side and he could cast his eyes upon a sight no one else in town had. Even after so many visits, he’d still see new things in there, some unknown plant which seemed alive in ways it shouldn’t or hollows in trees mimicking screaming faces straight from a nightmare, each one scarier than the last. Only last week he came across a large crevice which seemed like it might go on forever. Their town was overwhelmingly boring in comparison. 

Then of course there were all the things that Levi knew and was perhaps willing to teach Erwin one day, things that even his father didn’t know. 

The laughing quietened, bowing down to a uneasy silence with no more words shared between them. A cool breeze swept across the garden, so soothing as it brushed against Erwin’s warm cheeks. He should have worn a hat. There was a slight tingling at the tips of his ears and nose, and he had no doubt his skin would be stained pink for the next few days. 

“Here.” His father split open a pod, fresh from the stalk, and offered Erwin a pea. He gave a small smile as he took one. 

“You’re only young,” his father said, pausing a moment to eat some peas himself. “But I already see so much of myself in you. Such a thirst for exploration, for something more. You’re young, you’re small, but this town isn’t quite big enough for you, is it?” 

Erwin frowned. “I’m not small.” In fact he was the fourth or fifth tallest in his class. Taller than Nile at least, even if only by a hair’s width. “But sometimes I think about where we’re not allowed to go. I…” Erwin stopped himself. This was something he’d never admitted to his father, to anyone. It was something he was almost scared of admitting to himself. He was worried that if he mentioned it to someone he would get in trouble, but more than that, he was terrified of being told it was simply an impossibility. “I want to know what’s over the mountains.” He’d never even told Levi that much because if anyone were to know whether the notion were ridiculous, it would be him. 

His father looked at him, and Erwin couldn’t read his expression at all. The possibility that he’d said something that had made his father angry came to mind, but it didn’t seem right. Erwin had never seen his father mad, not truly, and never anything of the sort towards him, but regardless he was sure it wasn’t anger that his father wore on his face. Still, Erwin looked away, his unsureness making him regret what he’d said. 

He went back to picking peas, but it seemed like they had finished their task, not a ripe pod left on the plant. Though he thought it likely his father would move them onto the next task, he instead moved the basket from in between them and shuffled to the side to sit closer.

“You know, when I was younger, I felt the same way.” His father spoke quietly, as if he were sharing a secret only meant for him, so Erwin made sure to lean forward to keep the words trapped between themselves.

“And what about now?”

His father smiled. “I don’t believe one’s curiosity ever dies. It fades, perhaps. But if there’s even the smallest glow from the tiniest ember, it can be relit.”

“Did you ever try?” 

“Try to what?”

“Try to see what’s over the mountains.” 

“I had all but packed my bags.” His father smiled as he looked towards the open door at the front of the house, sounds of pots and pans bouncing through the hall from the kitchen. “But I chanced upon something worth staying for.” 

For a brief moment, Erwin thought that he would never allow anything to hold him back from pursuing adventure, the chance to discover something new. But then he thought of his parents, of his friends, and of Levi, and he had to admit to himself that abandoning all that for the unknown would be more difficult than he’d first imagined. 

“So tell me, Erwin. Why do you want to know what’s on the other side of those mountains.” He pointed over to the east, through a gap between their neighbours’ houses, where they could see one of the taller peaks. 

Up until this point, Erwin hadn’t thought so deeply about it. He wanted to impress his father with his answer, but much of his desire had come through meeting Levi, and learning that the things that people tell one another weren’t always true. It had become obvious, that there was more to this town, more to the world they were living in, and Erwin wasn’t going to learn about it by waiting for the information to come to him. 

“I guess I just don’t like not knowing things. I don’t know what’s over there, and it seems no one else does either.” He picked at some dirt that had gotten under his thumbnail, but snapped his attention back up, looking his father in the eye when he spoke. “It’s the same with the forest.” Erwin said that a bit more quietly, worried about how perceptive his father could be. 

“Yes, uncertainty can be so frustrating.” His father turned his body to face Erwin, settling himself in a more comfortable position and leaned closer, a small smile playing at his lips. “We are surrounded by a lot of danger aren’t we?” 

The forest wasn’t quite as dangerous as everyone thought it to be, but Erwin didn’t say as much, he simply nodded. 

“We have that forest beyond the wall,” his father said, gesturing with his thumb. “We can’t go through there. And then we have mountains all around us, no viable paths. No tunnels. And we’re warned of the dangers quite often, aren’t we?”

Erwin wasn’t quite sure what viable meant, but there was no way he’d admit that to his father right now, not when they were in the middle of discussing something like this. In any case, he was sure he could guess from context, so he nodded again, barely daring to blink in case losing eye contact would give his father space to think better of entrusting him with such thoughts. 

“For all the dangers that surround us,” his father continued, his voice seeming to grow quieter with each word, “our people sure managed to find somewhere safe amongst it all.”

Everyone had a tale about what went on beyond the wall, their own idea of the Demon of the forest. Some offered them up as mere rumours, stories to keep their children aware and away, and some declared their stories as stone cold fact. But the stories came from here and there and no one paid much mind to the differing accounts. To question what was over the mountains however, was something no one did. They all knew the story, told over and over again with nary a word amiss from one account to the next. 

“My teacher told us that our ancestors came here running from trouble,” Erwin said, recalling a history lesson at the beginning of the school year.

“But to have found our way here, to end up in this closed off valley…” His father trailed off, and a small smile played on his lips. Erwin knew when his father was trying to push him to come to his own conclusion, it was something he was doing more often, and as such, Erwin had come to dislike being told the answer in these situations, eager to figure it out himself.

“So, we had to come through the mountains, somehow,” Erwin said, somewhat unsure of himself, a feeling that caused great discomfort. He already knew that they came through the mountains, so he was sure he was missing the point his father was making. 

His father waited a few moments more, in case Erwin had anything to add. When he didn’t, he spoke, but barely above a whisper. 

“Then why can’t we leave just as we came in? What has changed?” 

For a second, Erwin was embarrassed that he hadn’t come to that conclusion first, but the feeling passed as quickly as it came. His father was the smartest person in town, of course he would have thought of that before Erwin had the chance to.

“Do people try to leave?” Erwin asked, wondering if he’d heard such stories, but he wasn’t able to recall any.

“Some have tried. Of the small handful of people I’ve known attempt to leave, only one or two have returned, and they didn’t come back the same person. They barely came back a person at all.” With a far away look in his eyes, his father sighed. “When I was younger I ignored all of that. I was convinced I was special, invincible, and that my attempts to leave would be different than all those who’d tried before me.” He patted Erwin on the shoulder, gripping him a little too tight as he looked him in the eye. “It’s fun to wonder, but as you get older, you learn some things simply aren’t worth the risk.”

A strange sense of discomfort set itself heavy in Erwin’s stomach. It made him want to look away, perhaps walk inside the house, anything to get away from the odd look in his father’s eyes, something he was sure he’d never seen before. But the need to satiate his curiosity, to attempt to fill the gaps in his knowledge kept him sat firmly on the ground. He spent a few moments thinking of how to bring up his next question, spilling it before he was entirely convinced it was the right thing to do, just in case he lost his confidence. 

“I was reading a book about people who can use magic,” he said, cringing when he stumbled over a word. It was so unlike him. “And I was wondering if there were really people like that.”

“You sure are asking a lot of peculiar questions today.” 

Erwin pulled back, bringing in his shoulders as if he could hide himself between them. Excitement had got a hold on him and he’d let himself get carried away. Asking questions was like opening a door; it opened up entry in both directions. 

“Though,” his father continued, stroking his beard, something that was usually a sign of either confusion or amusement, but he also could have simply had an itch. “It’s not exactly out of sorts. You’ve always had countless questions sitting on that tongue of yours.” 

Warmth tickled at Erwin’s cheeks, no doubt making him even pinker. “I’m sorry”

“No, son,” his father said, his face turning serious. “Don’t you ever stop asking questions. The day we stop trying to learn more is a day we may as well lock ourselves up in a dark room for the rest of our lives, letting ourselves be content with the light we’ve had until then.

“Now to answer your question, You mean wizards, sorcerers or similar, I presume. I’m not exactly sure about people who can use magic, I’ve certainly never come across any myself, but I have no doubt that there’s some dark magic at work inside that forest.”

Erwin still had no doubt that his father was the smartest man in the whole world, even if much of the world was an unknown, but he had to accept that there were just some things that his father couldn’t know, and there was no point risking his father’s suspicion but pushing further with those topics. There was one thing, however, that Erwin thought he had to ask, no matter how unsettling the answer might be. 

“How many people have died going into the forest?”

“Quite a few, unfortunately. I wouldn’t be able to tell you an exact number. Not everyone who has wandered past the walls has died, of course. But they suffer for it. Curiosity is a wonderful thing, but it can be dangerous. Let it guide you, not blind you. You have to know when to hold back, before someone gets hurt.” 

Everything seemed become heavy all of a sudden, the conversation, the way his father spoke, even the air around them. It was starting to feel like a lecture from one of his teachers, and it appeared his father realised at the same time Erwin did. 

“I think that’s quite enough for today,” his father said, smacking his knee before standing, his body popping in several paces, much to Erwin’s shock and entertainment. 

“Go on, son. Go get us some of those apples. I’ve been able to think about little else since your mother mentioned it.” 

Erwin giggled, feeling his tongue salivate at the thought of apple crumble that evening. Though he knew his father was more fond of a rhubarb pie, Erwin had no doubt that his father shared a similar level of excitement for that evening’s dessert, and it encouraged him to rush as he changed into cleaner clothes. His father was still in the garden when Erwin bounded out of the front door, sweeping up the dirt that had made it’s way onto the cobbles path that ran from the door to the gate. 

“Tell John and Claire hello from your mother and I,” his father said once he noticed Erwin.

Mike’s parents were the compete opposite of Mike. Much like the rest of their children, they were loud and boisterous, but they all shared the same heart, a gentle kindness that one would struggle to find in even half amounts in anyone else in this town. It was something Erwin was ever grateful for them for, especially on days like today as it meant he was going to be able to eat his favourite dessert that evening. 

Just as Erwin opened the gate, the hinges whining as he did so, his father called out to him, stopping him. 

“Erwin,” his father started, crouching down in front of him to meet him at eye level. “You’re a clever boy, I wouldn’t think for a second you would do something reckless. But this is just for my own peace of mind, okay? 

“Regardless of what’s been said between us today, you do understand that you can’t go to the forest, don’t you?” 

It was upsetting to realise just how much concern his father could tie into his words, and it left Erwin with an ache unlike anything he’d ever felt to lie and to tell his father that he did indeed understand, that he had no intention of going there himself. Erwin was most surprised, however, at the sense of loneliness that creeped into his chest, when he thought about how unlikely it was that he’d ever get to tell his father about the world on the other side of the wall, about the forest and its Demon. His father stared past his glasses and straight into Erwin’s eyes, holding his look for the longest few seconds of Erwin’s life, before giving what seemed a satisfied nod. Even so, he had one more thing to add. “As much as the unknown excites you, excites the both of us, there are so many dangers that we don’t know of.” His father ran his hand over Erwin’s head, sweeping his hair into place, and gave him a soft smile. “But we’re safe here in this town. Try to remember that.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the wait, I struggled a lot with this chapter. Hope you all enjoy it and thank you so much for reading this far!

Being a school teacher, Erwin’s father didn’t work over the summer holiday period, which meant outside of helping with preparations for the summer festival, he was mostly free. Every year, Erwin cherished having the unlimited time to spend with his father, but this year he couldn’t help but feel it an obstacle to visiting Levi as often as he would like. There was something about his father spending more time at home, however, that even had his mother in constant cheerful spirits, and so Erwin pushed away all feelings of disappointment and found himself satisfied with the three days a week he could venture to the forest. Levi had been reluctant to agree to him visiting so frequently, but Erwin had assured him that once school started up again, it would be back to just once a week. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to make it to the forest at all once the snow made it’s way down from the mountains, but he decided to consider that closer to the time. 

There were only three weeks left of the summer holidays, more than half way through, and Erwin hadn’t learned as much he would have liked. Levi still insisted on dodging some of his most pressing questions, and he didn’t even bother to attempt subtlety when he did so. But despite this, Levi talked more freely, Erwin noticed. Often they’d talk about nothing all that important and still Erwin would leave the forest feeling content and looking forward to his next visit.

Earlier that morning Nile had knocked on his front door to ask if Erwin would join him and some friends to swim in the river. It was the third time since school finished that Erwin had had to turn down his invitation. Levi was expecting him that day, and Erwin didn’t want to have Levi waiting around for him. It was simply bad luck that had Nile asking him out on the days that he’d already made plans with Levi, or committed to spend time with his parents, but Erwin was running out of excuses to give to his friend and in return, Nile seemed to be running out of patience. Thinking of how Nile had turned away with a loud huff, Erwin wondered if they’d still be friends when school started again.

Having found out the prior week that Levi liked sweet, baked goods, Erwin made sure to grab two leftover scones from the batch his mother had made for breakfast that morning, and wrapped them up alongside his lunch. Since the beginning of the holidays, Erwin had been sneaking food items such as hard-boiled sweets, dried fruits, crackers, anything that would keep for a while and anything whose absence wouldn’t be noticed. He didn’t know if Levi actually touched them while he was gone, but Erwin decided the small effort was worth making.

Just before heading out the front door, Erwin picked up the book he’d selected the night before. Levi had said he was tired of reading stories of heroic knights rescuing those in distress, something Erwin couldn’t quite understand for they were his favourite kind of tale, but he’d promised he’d keep that in mind and bring something else. It had taken Erwin much time after supper to decide, but he’d finally settled on a story about a bird that falls from a tree, breaking its wing, and the bird’s long journey home. It was a bit longer than the other books he’d taken from the forest. Most of the books Erwin read were written for older children, but this was one meant for children even older than the level he’d usually read at. Erwin had only read it the once and he couldn’t remember much of the story, only that he’d experienced a growing sense of sadness when flicking through its pages. Even when he’d picked it up from the shelf last night he couldn’t recall the ending, but something inside told him it was the right book to take this week.

Erwin couldn’t help taking a glance at the first page, and lost himself for a few more pages before he could snap himself out of it. He would just have to wait until Levi was finished with it and read it for himself then. The satchel he used for school was hanging by the front door, and Erwin slipped his book inside along with his lunch and the two scones for Levi.

His mother was sat on the bench in their front garden with a book of her own in hand. She’d removed her socks and shoes and was idly running her toes through the grass as she read, her face a picture of peace. After having one of her bad days the day before, it seemed a shame to disturb her, but she looked up as soon as Erwin stepped out of the door.

“Where are you off to, Erwin?”

She slid her bookmark into place, a gift from Erwin fashioned from blue and green threads, something he’d made in school some time last year. He didn’t want to lie. Erwin didn’t like to lie to anyone, least of all to his parents, and it weighed on him to think of just how prone his mother was to worrying, especially on such days when his father wasn’t home. When he told her that he was simply off to explore the fields just outside of town though, she responded with an easy smile and beckoned him over for a hug.

“You be careful, no more tumbling over and losing your shoes,” she said into his hair. Her fingers gripped him a little too tightly, close to pinching at his skin, but Erwin made sure not to react.

“I promise, mother,” he said, running his hands down her arm, a gesture that sometimes worked to calm her. Erwin wondered whether it was wise to leave the house today, but when his mother let go, he was relieved to see her face free of worry.

His mother sighed as she looked down at him, her soft smile plumping up her rosy cheeks. “You keep growing faster than I can take it in. When was it that you stopped calling me ‘mama’?”

It wasn’t a question he knew how to answer, so he didn’t. Instead, he leaned forwards and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, warm from the summer sun, and told her he’d be heading out.

“Well, just make sure you’re back in time for dinner,” his mother called after him as he closed the creaky gate.

“Okay, I will!”

To make it seem like he was heading towards Nile’s house, Erwin took a small detour, turning right out of the gate instead of left. He only headed in the direction of the forest when he was sure he was completely out of view of his house, and he made sure to be careful to keep out of sight of other people whenever he could help it, rushing towards the bridge that led out of town only when there was no one around.

His father’s warning came to mind as soon as he reached the other side. If Erwin were to get onto his tip toes he could just about see a portion of the wall over the grassy slopes, but the sight of it had both excitement and worry rolling about in his stomach so violently, Erwin had to stop himself to take a breath. He hadn’t felt anything like this on any trip to the forest, not even the first time he ventured there with absolutely no idea of what waited for him on the other side of the wall. There was something about how his father had spoken to him the other day, a seriousness Erwin had never seen before, and it felt wrong to disregard his father’s concerns, but even as he tried to consider listening to the advice he’d been given, there was no quelling that urge to return to the forest. Erwin just knew that he had to keep seeing Levi, had to learn more about the forest, about this world. Hoping that it would be enough to make up for disobeying his parents, Erwin muttered a sorry under his breath, doing his best to not think of what would happen if they found out. With one last look toward town, he hurried towards the forest.

Levi stood in the same spot as always, his eyes coming to meet Erwin’s as soon as he poked his head through the gap in the wall. It seemed as if Levi had been in deep thought, and Erwin wondered what he’d been thinking about. He didn’t ask though.

“Good morning, Levi!” He said instead as soon as his feet landed on the ground. Levi answered only with a nod of his head which wasn’t at all unusual. It hadn’t taken much time for Erwin to realise that Levi wasn’t the talkative type, especially during the first hour or so of meeting up. Erwin was used to being the initiator of conversation by now, and he knew that if he weren’t to say the first word, they would more than likely spend the entire day together in complete silence. Since befriending Levi, Erwin had asked about all sorts of things. He’d often get vague answers, and often it felt like he hadn’t really learned anything at all since coming here. However, slowly but surely, it did seem that Levi was opening up. In the last few visits, Erwin had learned that Levi definitely wasn’t the only Demon, in fact, there were probably as many Demons as there were people, though they lived in their own world, separate to this one. There were many differences between Demons and humans. Levi had never been a child as Demons weren’t born like humans were, so all questions about family and growing up fell flat, not being relevant at all. Conversation could be difficult at times. There were things that Levi simply couldn’t answer, either lacking the knowledge or being quite clear in his refusal to answer certain things about himself. While all the things that Levi knew about Erwin, even his name, was information offered up on his own. Erwin had long accepted that he’d always be the one to start conversations, to ask the questions, so it came as a surprise when Levi asked a question of his own.

“When do you go back to school?”

Erwin looked over at Levi to see that he was continuing with his task as if he hadn’t spoken at all. Having accepted that Erwin would continue to bring all sorts of items, or gifts, Levi had announced that they’d have to make somewhere to store everything to keep it safe come the wetter months. Curling roots from a tree just at the border of where Levi had set up home had provided a good place to start digging out a small hollow, and Levi seemed quite invested in completing it.

“In about three weeks,” Erwin said, sitting back to take a breather, even though Levi had been doing most of the work to save Erwin’s clothes being spoiled with dirt.

Levi didn’t look back at him, but his movements did slow down somewhat. “That soon, huh.”

“I’m looking forward to it. Mrs. Burton will be our teacher, and I’ve heard she’s really fun in class.” Erwin picked up a small rock that was peeking out from the freshly turned soil and inspected it closely, but it was just a usual stone. It was jagged and rough, but it was nothing interesting or out of the ordinary. He kept a hold of it anyway. “Mr. Muller was so boring last year.”

“You still planning on visiting every weekend?” Levi said, finally stopping and turning to look at Erwin.

“Of course.”

Erwin couldn’t think why Levi would ask that. Wasn’t it obvious? Was Erwin making it seem like he wasn’t enjoying himself?

“Your parents know you’re coming here?”

Much like earlier, Erwin felt his stomach lurch as if trying to escape up through his throat. For the longest time Erwin felt the friendship between Levi and himself to be somewhat one sided, but now that Levi was starting to talk more, to ask questions, he wasn’t so sure that he appreciated it. Erwin fiddled with the stone in his hand, rolling it along the lines of his palm, and kept his attention focused on that.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Levi said with a grunt as he stood up. “How long do you think you can keep coming here without them noticing?”

Erwin grimaced. “I can’t tell them.”

“I don’t blame you. Not exactly something I’d recommend doing.”

“Do you know what they say about you, in town?”

“I know enough of it.”

At the other end of the clearing there was a pool of water, Levi walked in that direction and Erwin scrambled up to follow. Surrounding the small pond were bushes bursting with berries, a delicious red and ripe for picking, but even though the plants grew well within the safety of Levi’s home, Erwin’s had already been warned about not eating them. Remaining quiet, Erwin watched Levi kneel down in front of the water and thought he might have caught him looking at his reflection for a short few seconds before he plunged his hands in and cleared the dirt from his skin. It didn’t seem like Levi was going to say anything else, much like always he said no more than he absolutely had to.

“Everyone says it’s dangerous in here,” Erwin said after a deep breath, speaking louder than he’d intended. With the forest being as quiet as it was, the air was much more sensitive to sound, sending it scattering about violently if not cautious.

“It is dangerous.”

“But I-”

“You’re safe from the forests’ curse but still almost got yourself killed.”

Erwin pulled at his shirt sleeve, feeling a slight chill now that he stood in the shade. “Levi, they say _you’re_ dangerous.” They would say much worse things than that, but Erwin didn’t want to reveal everything he’d heard. He was sure Levi had a thicker skin than most, but the stories passed between the townsfolk would paint him in such awful colours, crafting images that were just too cruel.

“They’re not wrong.”

“Of course they’re wrong,” Erwin said back, bite in his words. As he tried to gather his words he clenched his fists, tight so that the stone in his palm dug into the skin, but he barely spared a second to wonder if it would pierce. “They’re all wrong. They don’t know what they’re talking about. They can’t know. There are so many stupid people, grown ups too, saying all sorts of bad things about you when they haven’t even met you.”

Erwin only remembered to breathe when his chest ached and and his fingertips tingled. Relaxing his fists, he looked down at his palm. Where the stone had poked into him hurt, but it had only made a small indent. Considering the pain, he’d expected blood, and Erwin briefly felt a touch of disappointment for not having anything to show for the ache that was spreading across his palm, but the realisation that he’d just lost his temper in front of Levi snatched his attention with violent urgency. After a deep breath, Erwin glanced up at the Demon and was surprised to see that he wasn’t angry, not even shocked. He simply held his usual look of indifference, but Erwin couldn’t decide if that was really any better.

“You brought food?” Levi said, pointing to Erwin’s satchel. “Let’s eat something.”

Erwin didn’t say anything more. He couldn’t bring himself to. Feeling foolish wasn’t something that Erwin had to experience often and it left him with such an uncomfortable sensation. There was a pounding in his chest and in his ears which still hadn’t completely calmed down even after he’d washed his hands, as ordered to do so by Levi, and there was still a noticeable pulse by the time he took a seat beside the Demon. Though he was glad that Levi hadn’t seemed too bothered by his outburst, Erwin felt that he’d been unable to make his point and that his argument had been brushed aside. He kept the thoughts to himself however, and watched Levi help himself to the food he’d brought. It was a small relief to see that Levi was enjoying the lunch, his eyes brightening some as he took his first bite of a scone, and it was then that Erwin took some for himself.

“Another book?” Levi asked, slipping it from the satchel. As always, Levi was careful with his claws as he looked over the cover, even more so as he opened the first page. His claws weren’t so long that Erwin worried too much about his books, but the care Levi treated them with made him feel even more at ease.

Watching Levi’s eyes follow the words, Erwin began to doubt whether he’d chosen the right book. He’d made an effort to pick a book with a different theme, but perhaps he should have chosen something that wasn’t a story, something more factual, or perhaps a book meant for grown-ups.

“Don’t worry so much about what people say,” Levi said, interrupting Erwin’s thoughts. “People are always gonna say things, whether you like it or not. You’ve gotta choose what you do with it.”

“What would you do, if you heard people saying things about you?”

Levi put down the book, focusing his attention on Erwin. “People wouldn’t say shit about me if I were there.”

Erwin smiled when he saw a hint of humour flicker on Levi’s face, and imagined a number of ways the Demon could react. It was likely that being on the receiving end of one of Levi’s annoyed glares would frighten most people into keeping their mouths closed. It was sad to think, however, that if the townspeople could meet him, could actually get to know him, then they surely wouldn’t have anything nasty to say at all.

Where they were sat, sunlight seeped in through the break in the canopy and it felt like summer for the first time within the forest walls. The warmth was pleasant on Erwin’s skin, even though the pink was only just starting to fade from his nose and cheeks, something that Levi had already made fun of, one of the first things he’d said to him today. Erwin had learned that sunburn wasn't something that Demons ever had to deal with, a fact lending to Levi’s amusement. A pair of birds fluttered overhead, dancing around one another in the sky before darting out of view, off in a direction that Erwin’s eyes couldn’t follow. How wonderful it would be to to live as a bird, to be able to soar past walls and hills and lakes as easily as stepping over a twig on a path.

“Levi, what’s over the mountains?”

“Why’d you wanna know?”

It was the second time Erwin had been asked this question and his answer didn’t come any easier. Erwin wondered if it was really that strange to want to know something just for the sake of learning.

“Well,” he started, with a slight huff,“ _Because_ I don’t know.”

“Can’t you just ask your parents? Or a teacher or something? That’s what they’re for.”

Erwin clicked his tongue. “No, they don’t know any more than I do.”

“They’ve never been?”

“No. Of course not. There’s no way through.”

The way Levi looked back at him, Erwin had to wonder if something had sprouted from his face, and he almost brought up his hands to check. There were a lot of things that the two of them didn’t know about each other’s worlds, and things would go a lot smoother if Levi wouldn’t be so vague. Erwin couldn’t understand why Levi wouldn’t want to just answer all the questions he had.

“Of course there are ways through,” Levi said, rolling his eyes. “How’d you think you’re in this valley? You didn’t crawl out of the ground.”

Erwin felt warmth blossom in his cheeks, and he couldn’t imagine how pink he looked now. “I know that,” he muttered, pulling at the button on his shirt cuff. “We came from the other side of the mountains, well, the first people did. Our ancestors. But now we can’t go back.”

“What do you know about the town you live in?”

“What do you mean?”

Levi’s eyes closed and he breathed through his nose, a familiar look of frustration. “Tell me what you know about your town, your ancestors.”

Erwin thought back to the lessons he’d had at school of this topic. “There was a war. And our people were chased from our homes. Our great-great-grandparents…no, our great-great-great-grandparents found their way here. They built the town. And we’ve lived here since then. We’re safe.” Even as he said it, it felt off, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Were they really safe if their safety was at the cost of being unable to leave? It made Erwin feel anything but safe, but his father couldn’t be wrong. His father had never been wrong.

“So, what, you think the town was built about a hundred years ago?” Levi asked him.

“Yes, I think so. That’s what my teachers said.”

“Kid, that town was there before I got trapped in this forest.”

“But that can’t be right.”

That wasn’t something he’d ever heard. Everyone knew that the first people had built the town, Erwin had heard it from his teachers, from his parents, he’d even read it in a book and if he couldn’t trust the information in a book then what could be trusted?

“Someone’s lying to you.”

“But…” Erwin started, his tongue like a paperweight in his mouth as he tried to gather his words. “But why would they lie? Does everyone know? Is everyone lying?”

His father couldn’t be lying, surely. His father knew everything, his father was incredibly smart, more knowledgable than anyone else in town, but for some reason Erwin didn’t find himself doubting anything that Levi told him, he just knew that Levi was the one who knew the truth about this. It didn’t make it any easier to digest, however.

“Don’t know what more I can tell you, kid. I haven’t exactly had the chance to take a trip into town in a while. I don’t know much more than you at this point.”

“But that means the town is more than two hundred, three hundred years old?”

“Possibly more.” Levi said, shrugging his shoulders as if this were no big deal.

“I don’t understand.”

“Don’t be so bothered by it. You’re gonna be lied to a lot more before your older, and it never really stops.”

It took some moments before the words had chance to settle and Erwin could take them in. This was all too much, and Erwin couldn’t wrap his head around it all, but what Levi had just said struck him so hard, it had him thinking of only one thing.

“Levi, will you lie to me?”

“If I need to.”

Erwin couldn’t have expected such an answer, and he only felt hurt by it. There wasn’t a single reason he could think of why Levi would ever need to lie to him, but Levi hadn’t even needed a second of pause to declare it a possibility.

“I’ve never lied to you,” Erwin admitted, the only thing he could say in return, and it was the truth.

“Yeah? Give it time.”

Erwin didn’t have it in him to argue, but he vowed that he wouldn’t. Lying to his parents so much these past few months already had him feeling like the worst person to have ever existed. He thought he could spare at least a little bit of goodness in him by not doing the same to Levi.

“Right,” Levi announced, tapping Erwin on the head before standing. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk or something. I’d rather take a shit backwards than look at your miserable face any longer.”

For a good few seconds, Erwin couldn’t say anything, couldn’t even make a sound. Did Levi just say what he thought he said? He knew that it wasn’t below Levi to swear, to use words that would have his parents gasp, but Erwin couldn’t have expected him to say something like that.

“Levi, that’s disgusting.”

But Levi didn’t make any excuses, he only sniggered at Erwin’s reaction, and despite everything it made him feel a little bit better. It was difficult having learned something which made him question many things that he’d been taught and not being able to go back to town and ask it. Maybe there was some information in his father’s history books which were much more in depth that the ones kept at school, but Erwin could never get too far into those books without stumbling onto too many words that he didn’t recognise. It was too much to think about when all he wanted to do was enjoy his time in the forest with Levi, so Erwin made effort to push it all to the back of his mind, and stood up to follow him. Erwin had thought that Levi would lead him back towards the wall, but was surprised by Levi heading in the opposite direction. They’d never been that way before, and Levi had assured him that Erwin wasn’t missing out on anything, it being pretty much the same as any other route through the forest. After walking for ashort while, it seemed that Levi hadn’t lied about that. There wasn’t anything much of particular interest, nothing too different to what Erwin had seen already on any other visit, but there was still a tingle of excitement in Erwin’s chest knowing that he was going somewhere unexplored. But, like it so often happened when Erwin wasn’t willing to initiate conversation, silence overwhelmed the space between them, broken only by the sounds of the forest floor breaking beneath their feet and Erwin’s grunts whenever he had to jump over whatever blocked his path, usually upturned roots or fallen branches. It wasn’t all too unpleasant though. During the time he’d known Levi, Erwin had come to learn how to enjoy company without feeling the need to fill the moments of quiet. Though it had been a lesson learned through necessity because of the time Levi had claimed to have been extremely close to chucking Erwin straight over the wall if he didn’t shut up for five minutes. The way he’d said it, Erwin hadn’t doubted him for even a moment.

The smell of damp this deep in the forest was unpleasant, and it was unlikely that Erwin would ever grow any sort of fondness towards it, but it no longer felt a struggle to breath, and it had been a long time without the urge to bring the sleeve of his shirt over his nose. Erwin had to wonder if the squelches that burst from under his feet were in fact water as it certainly hadn’t rained in a while, and a few steps could be like wading through sticky porridge while the next few were bone dry. It was easier to convince himself that the forest had its own weather system than to imagine all the kinds of things that could be oozing out onto the forest floor.

“Over the mountains,” Levi said, coughing a little as his voice broke through the silence. “Shit, there’s so much I don’t know where to start. I can barely even remember what’s in the valley out there so I don’t know where to start.”

He scratched at his neck, looking anything but comfortable, and Erwin thought then that he understood why Levi so rarely began conversation. It wasn’t a feeling he understood personally as he just loved to talk, but there were some students in his class who liked to keep to themselves, seeming awkward whenever included in conversation. Mike was one of them, in fact, so Erwin decided to try and give Levi a hand.

“Are there other towns?” He asked, the first question to come to mind.

“Of course.” There was something mocking in Levi’s tone, but it seemed he realised it as soon as he said it, and he muttered a quick apology, though it was so quiet that Erwin thought he could have imagined it. “At least there was before I got stuck in here. Lots of them. All different sizes.”

“And cities, like the ones in my books?”

“Yeah, cities ten, a hundred times the size of your town. With castles and everything.”

Erwin had no idea castles were real, he'd only ever seen drawings in his books, many of them stories from before his people came to the valley. He didn’t think that buildings so big could be possible, the tallest building they had in the town was the bell tower and that was only twice the size of his own house. Levi almost smiled when Erwin threw more questions about castles at him, at least Erwin was certain it was an almost smile.

“You know, I lived in a castle for a while.”

Erwin stopped in his tracks. “Really?”

“Yeah, I…uh…”

Erwin didn’t move an inch, even though it took Levi a few more steps before realising and stopping too. Cautious that Levi might realise that he’d willingly given information about himself, Erwin didn’t think he’d be able to breathe until Levi continued speaking.

“I…worked for a Sorcerer who had a castle.”

“So, Demons work for Sorcerers?”

“Sometimes.”

“Did the castle have a moat? A big one? How big was it?”

“No.”

“How about a drawbridge?”

“No.”

Levi sounded bored already, but Erwin couldn’t help but chuckle with giddiness and started walking again with great emphasis in each stride. There were many different kinds of castles in his books, those that stretched tall into the clouds, their halls furnished with only the most luxurious fabrics, and castles that were barely standing, the decor lining the halls long losing the battle with time. Erwin tried to imagine Levi living in a castle, but it seemed so out of place, unable to picture Levi anywhere but here.

“What work did you do?”

“I did what he asked me to do.”

“And what did he ask you to do?”

The way Levi paused before he answered, how his face darkened as he formed his words had a chill rolling up Erwin’s spine.

“He asked me to help him win a war.”

It wasn't an answer Erwin had expected, but just as he opened his mouth to push further, Levi planted a hand on his shoulder, bringing them both to a stop.

“We’re here. Look.”

Erwin looked over at where Levi was pointing. They’d arrived at what appeared to be a large pond, the water so still it was like a mirror, making as if a whole other forest thrived below the surface.

“We’re gonna go a bit closer, but try to not fall into this one,” Levi said, showing Erwin a small embankment they could walk on. In a small effort to hide his own embarrassment, Erwin nudged Levi with his elbow before following him. Even as they got closer though, Erwin couldn’t understand why Levi would have brought him here. Didn’t Levi know that they had plenty of ponds in the woodlands at the other end of town? There was even a lake at the far end of the valley where the mountains met, and though Erwin had only been a handful of times, he remembered it well enough to know that it was much more impressive than this small pond. Levi didn’t say anything else, however. Instead he knelt down and selected a few stones from the ground, seeming to be selecting the biggest he could find which were still no bigger than a conker.

“This is the one you wanna be throwing stones into.”

That had Erwin intrigued. He watched with anticipation as Levi lifted his arm, and cast one of the stones at the centre of the pond. As soon as the stone struck the water, ripples of every colour Erwin could imagine spread outwards, as if someone were opening tins of paint at the bottom to have it erupt at the surface.

Just as Erwin thought it couldn’t get any better, Levi flung his arm outwards, sending the whole collection of stones he’d gathered splashing into the water, creating a dizzying array of colours unlike anything Erwin had ever seen. Even the artist who painted in the market square at the week’s end had never created something as vivid as this.

“It’s beautiful,” Erwin said, unable to take his eyes off it.

“And it could probably kill you.”

“It’s okay. I won’t get too close.”

Once the water had settled, the ripples of red and pink and purple giving way to reflectthe dark green and browns of the forest around them, Erwin took the jagged stone from his pocket, still something so ordinary, nothing to make it different from any other stone in this whole valley, and flung it into the water. Mesmerised by the richness of the rainbow spreading out, Erwin didn’t even blink, not until he watched every last ripple collide with the murky bank of the pond.


	12. Chapter 12

“Erwin!” Nile called out across the playground, waving his hands frantically above his head.

The first few days at school had been awkward as Nile wasn’t happy about being rejected so many times over summer. Erwin had managed to make time for him here and there but the last few turn downs had apparently been a few too many, and Nile was particularly offended that Erwin and Mike had gone to the river one day without him while he was grounded. Erwin thought it unfair that he’d received the brunt of his annoyance, especially seeing as it was Nile’s own fault. After all, he should have known that there was nothing good to come from starting a fire in his back garden. This morning though, when Nile needed help with a maths problem, it was all forgotten and he and Erwin were friends again.

Erwin jogged over to where Nile was sat, his elbow resting upon the tree stump they’d laid claim as their own on the first day of the school year. Mike was lying on the grass beside him, his hands behind his head and eyes closed, likely daydreaming.

As Erwin took a seat, Nile gave him an unnaturally wide grin, so proud of having lost one of his front teeth a week prior. Along with his ruffled hair and the smudge of dirt on his cheek, he looked even more crazed than usual.

“Wanna play cards? Bet ya for your apple,” he said just as Erwin was about to take a bite. It was one of the many apples they had leftover from the third full basket they’d received from the Zacharius farm, no doubt the tastiest apples in the whole valley.

“My father said to not play betting games with you anymore,” Erwin said to Nile, polishing the red skin on his trouser leg.

“Huh, and how come?”

“He says you’re a rotten cheat.”

Nile looked absolutely flabbergasted, Mike only smirked, and Erwin took the biggest bite of his apple he could manage, maintaining eye contact with Nile until he swallowed. The look of irritation, poorly hidden by Nile rolling his eyes, only made the apple taste all the sweeter. Erwin had lost more than enough of his break time treats to Nile.

A few of the more boisterous children from the class above ran past, chasing one another with arms outstretched, their feet stomping along the grass so close that Erwin had to shuffle forward. Though the winters were harsh, Erwin almost longed for the months when he would be permitted to spend the entire of break time inside with a book. He wasn’t averse to playing outside, but the other boys could get awfully rough.

“So, I got a story for ya,” Nile announced as he slammed his cards down, a slight lisp softening his words.“I heard that some kids from the big kid school snuck out last night. And where d’ya think they went?”

Neither Erwin nor Mike bit. Nike could get a little too excited when he was telling a story, and they’d both learned to just let him take the lead.

With a giggle, Nile ducked down, bringing his face closer. “The forest!”

Mike yawned and settled further into the grass. He would most likely be asleep before Nile finished with what he had to say, but Erwin leaned in, keen to listen. The chances of anything out of Nile’s mouth being anywhere near the truth were slim, and it wasn’t too long ago that Erwin would have paid little attention, however, since meeting Levi, any mention of the forest or the Demon had him on edge, unable to focus on little else until he’d heard everything. He would find himself listening for any indication that the townsfolk knew that someone had been sneaking in and out of the forest. There were many times though that he would simply listen to the stories people told one another and smirk, knowing just how wrong they all were.

“You’re not gonna ask me what happened to ‘em?” Nile said, having grown impatient.

Erwin shook his head. “You tell me.”

After taking a deep breath, Nile continued. “Two friends, two guys from the big school, right, well they go into the forest just before the sun sets, right. Go in, an’ they start choking straight away. And clawing at their own throats. Well, if it wasn’t for some old man passin’ by, they’d probably be dead.”

It was good that Nile had started with such a deep breath because Erwin was sure Nile didn’t take a single one during his story, and he was almost panting once he reached the end. He stared Erwin right in the eye without blinking, waiting for a comment or possibly some sort of reaction, and when he didn’t get one he let out a loud scoff. Though he didn’t let it put him off continuing.

“Well, here’s the worst part,” Nile said, an almost wild look in his eyes making it seem like they were ready to fall right out of his head. “Before they could escape, the Demon stole their mouth and eyes.”

At the vague mention of Levi, Erwin’s attention piqued. Even if Nile didn’t know what the heck he was talking about, as usual, Erwin had to fight not to completely surrender his curiosity.

“You’re such a liar, Nile.”

Erwin didn’t believe a single word of Nile’s story. It wasn’t often that Nile told a story worth listening to, even less so one worth deeming believable.

“It’s true. I got a friend who seen them. They’ve nothing but a nose on their face now.”

“And who’s your friend?”

“You don’t know him. He don’t go to school.”

“My father works at the big kids school,” Erwin reminded Nile. “And I didn’t hear anything like that.”

“Well, it was only this morning that they were found. Your papa won’t’ve known.”

It wasn’t the first time that Nile had told him about someone dying or almost dying because they’d ventured into the forest, but it was always proven that Nile was fibbing. Erwin knew that there were people who’d died in there, and after his own brush with danger before the summer holidays, it was easy to see how. Each time Nile made a claim though, they only became more outlandish, more gruesome, and even less believable. Mike had long since given up on paying any attention to Nile, and Erwin had been doing the same, but now he knew for a certain fact that everything Nile was spouting was a baseless lie. With no care for subtlety, Erwin told his friend as much.

“Oh look ‘ere, mister know-it-all is back,” Nile grumbled, though he made sure that Erwin could hear every word.

“I’m not a know-it-all, but I definitely know more than you,” Erwin said with a sigh. He threw the core of his apple into the line of trees surrounding the school yard, wishing he could throw away Nile’s stupidity with the same ease. “You don’t have any proof that the Demon’s killed anyone.”

“An’ you ain’t got proof that he hasn’t. So what’s made ya so sure, huh?”

Erwin hesitated. He was getting too worked up over this. He clenched his fists, his palms grew clammier by the second, and all he could do was take shallow breaths to try to calm down.

“I never said I was,” he said finally, though it was hard to say that when he was in fact sure that he was right, and he did have proof. Erwin knew more about the forest and its Demon than anyone. It ached not to be able to say as such, and to have Nile spouting his nonsense as if it were the truth.

“Everyone knows that Demon is evil,” Nile said, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. It was a stance Erwin has seen Nile’s father take up many times. “My pops has told me all sorts o’ stories from when he was growin’ up. Said he once saw a man come back from the wall with his skin turned inside out. Demon did it with his own hands.”

“Well, you know what? Your pops is a liar too.”

“You what?!” Nile sputtered, aghast. “You think you know more than my pops?”

“About this, yes.”

“No, Erwin. you know nothin’. Just ‘cause you read loads of books and always finish your homework, don’t mean you know anything about the forest.”

Nile’s cheeks were blooming with red splotches, becoming more ferocious as his words grew louder.

“You just think you know everything ‘cause your papa’s a teacher. Pops might only be a mason but he’s more smarter than you about things. I bet he knows some things even your father don’t.”

“Nile, you’re such a moron. How’s your pops going to know anything about the Demon. I bet he’s never even been near the wall.” 

“An’ how do you know anything? You don’t know the Demon don’t rip out people’s organs.”

The thought of Levi doing that to someone forced its way into Erwin’s mind, no matter how much he tried keep it out, the image entirely unwelcome. The more he focused on banishing the thought however, the more vivid it became, the picture growing clearer until he imagined his own body lying on the forest floor, two empty holes where his eyes should have been. It was a horrifying thing to imagine, but more than anything, Erwin felt like he was betraying Levi for allowing such an image to form in his mind.

“I do know the Demon doesn’t rip out organs. He wouldn’t kill or anyone.”

“You ain’t seen no bodies though have you. My pops has. So, how d’ya know Erwin? You’re such a know-it-all, how d’ya know the Demon don’t kill people? Huh?”

“Because,” Erwin huffed, “Because I know Levi wouldn’t do something like that. Ever.”

He brought his palm up to cover his mouth, but it was far too late. Backed into a corner with frustration burning hot in his stomach, the words had burst out without giving him time to think them over.

“Who’s Levi?”

It was Mike who asked, now sitting up, an eyebrow arched as he squinted through the hair falling over his face. Nile was quiet, though he stared at Erwin with a similar interest, his curiosity seeming to have wiped away any anger for now.

Erwin looked to both his sides and turned his body round to check behind him too. There were students here and there, some of them climbing the trees, but he figured there was no one close enough to eavesdrop. Even so, Erwin still shuffled forward to get closer to his friends. The two of them looked so intrigued and all of a sudden Erwin was brimming with excitement. Something deep down was telling him he really shouldn’t be talking about Levi nor his adventures to the forbidden forest, but he’d been burning to tell someone, to tell anyone about his discoveries. He couldn’t really trust Nile, but there was no way Nile would ever let Erwin refuse to tell him more after he accidentally sputtered something. It was also a chance to have Nile realise just how wrong he’d been all along, and Erwin could make him eat his own words.

“You have to promise to keep this a secret.”

Nile was one of the biggest blabbermouths Erwin knew, but he’d never gone back on a promise made with a handshake.

Nile groaned. “Ugh, Erwin just spill it. Who’s this Levi and what’s he gotta do with the forest?”

“Promise me, Nile! You too, Mike.”

They all stretched out their hands to shake, but not before Erwin had to stop Nile from spitting into his palm; they’d argued back and forth about how that would not be a part of their promise handshake.

Erwin took a breath and counted to three, willing away the tingling in his fingertips. “Levi is the Demon of the forest, and he’s my friend.”

Nothing was said for a few seconds, and Nile and Mike only looked back at him with blank stares. It’d felt good to finally tell someone about his secret, but as the seconds dragged on, doubt settled itself amongst his thoughts. There wasn’t too much time to wrestle with regret, as Nile could never stay silent for long.

“Well, well, well. Now who’s a big ol’ liar?”

“It’s true.” Erwin insisted, puffing his cheeks. He didn’t like being considered a liar, especially by Nile, of all people. “I heard about a hole in the wall and I found it. So I climbed through, and pretty much everything you’ve ever told me about the forest, Nile, was wrong.”

“If it’s so safe, maybe me and Mike’ll go with you next time and meet this Levi.”

“No, you can’t,” Erwin said quickly, shaking his head. “I don’t think you can go in there. The forest is dangerous. There’s a curse. But Levi, well…He says I have special blood.”

“What a load of poppycock.” Nile exclaimed, some titters from behind him following it. Only then did Erwin notice that the children nearby had turned to look at them, some of them standing much closer than before. He couldn’t know how much they’d heard.

“It’s not enough to be the smartest in the class, now you gotta claim you’re special too. Special Erwin who can go in the forest an’ no-one else can.”

“I didn’t say that.” Erwin retorted, even though he knew that he hadn’t really said anything different.

Nile stood up, and pranced about. “Erwin’s so special that the Demon doesn’t wanna kill him,” Nile said, his voice going high pitched, as he so often did when teasing. His performance caught the attention of a group of nearby girls.

“What’re you guys talking about?”

“I think they’re arguing.”

“Are Nile and Erwin gonna have a fight?”

“The Demon isn’t evil.” Erwin said to Nile after standing, he tried to keep his voice as low as possible but the crowd around them was moving closer, pupils from their class and others desperate to listen in. “He’s good. And he’s kind. But the forest is only okay for people with special blood.”

Nile shook his head. “Erwin, why’re you so weird?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard such a thing, but it didn’t hurt any less. Still, he refused to look away, standing tall and firm in the knowledge he was right. “None of you know what you’re talking about,” he muttered beneath his breath, his hands clenched at the end of his arms stuck to his side.

“Not long ’til they put him in with the other loons,” someone behind him said, their comment rewarded with a chorus of giggles.

Timmy, a boy who lived only a few doors down from Erwin popped up, barely contained excitement lighting up his face. “You know, his mama’s real weird, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, she cries all the time. Sometimes shouts weird things too. One time - ”

“And he’s got the absolute biggest eyebrows.”

“You know they say his eyebrows grow with every lie he tells?”

“Thinks he’s such a know-it-all.”

As each voice chipped in, Erwin felt smaller, and all he wanted to do was tuck himself into his clothes and hide in there.

“He actually said that the forest is safe. Nothing bad in there.”

Erwin looked up to see Nile standing beside Maisy Wilson, a girl in their class, spewing what he’d been told as if he hadn’t only just promised to keep it a secret. The betrayal hurt, but not as much as seeing Nile twirling his finger by his head and then pointing back at him, gesturing that he thought him crazy. Maisy giggled at that and Nile beamed back at her. Everyone but Nile and Maisy knew he had a crush on her. If Erwin were friends with Maisy, if he had more anger in him, he might have rushed over to them and damaged Nile’s chances by spilling some of his own nasty secrets he’d been holding on to. He didn’t do so, he simply watched them walk off together, faces close as they exchanged whispers with one another.

The bell rang, and everyone started jogging back towards the school building, but Erwin could still hear his name being passed between them. Regret hit him like a punch to the stomach. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, and standing there on the schoolyard slowly emptying, he felt like a fool. Mike, who’d been sat by his feet the whole time, stood up and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Erwin was a whole two weeks older than Mike, but he stood a whole hands-width shorter. Though he didn’t feel any need for protection, Erwin felt safer with Mike at his side, more at ease. Mike bent down and plucked a buttercup from the ground, twirling it in his finger before presenting it to Erwin, who accepted it with a smile. There was no telling if Mike believed what he’d said about the forest, and it was unlikely he would ever say so in words even if Erwin were to ask outright, but he was sure at least that Mike didn’t think any less of him for this. Knowing that had made it easier to get through all of his classes, and he didn’t worry all too much about the rumours and whispers built upon his words that morning. However, that ease only lasted until the end of the day.

Walking home, Erwin pulled at his bag strap as it started to slip from his shoulder and he winced, his knuckles aching with each movement of his fingers. Word had got round to the teachers that he’d been telling tall tales, and he’d been called in to see the headmaster just before he’d made it out the front door to head home. Fibs were enough for one rap of the headteacher’s ruler against the knuckles, but telling fibs about going into the forest was apparently worth a whole three more strikes. It didn’t matter that what he’d been saying was the truth as Erwin couldn’t even claim that as defence. If he’d admitted to having gone to the forest, Erwin would have had more than bruised knuckles to worry about. Erwin frowned as he tried to smooth away the pain. If telling fibs about the forest really were worth a strike against the knuckles, he was sure Nile wouldn’t have any skin left on his hands. They’d managed to avoid one another for most of the day, and Erwin was able to appreciate the comfortable silence he could spend with Mike, not feeling much in the mood for conversation.

Between blowing cool air across his purpling knuckles and thinking about what he should have done differently that morning, Erwin debated whether he would tell Levi about what had happened. There was only one more day at school until the weekend, and Erwin had already made sure he’d be free to go to the forest. It was more than likely that he would tell Levi everything as he was easy to talk to. Levi seemed better at listening than talking when it came to conversations between the two of them, but Erwin trusted Levi to be wise enough to have some useful advice. Erwin had already told Levi plenty about Nile, and the Demon had long decided he didn’t like him, so if anything it could be relieving for Erwin to let out his frustration and discuss it with him. He had no doubt that Levi would be on his side. Maybe he’d ask his mother for some more baked goods, a fruit cake perhaps, and he would take a slice or two into the forest with him.

Knowing that the weekend was close and he’d be able to see Levi soon, Erwin didn’t feel so troubled about his argument with Nile nor the mean things the other students were saying about him. All this would pass. He just had to manage one more day and he could escape it all in the forest which always seemed a whole world away from the town.


	13. Chapter 13

Something didn’t feel right. Erwin had no idea what it was, but there was some uncomfortable sensation in his gut which wouldn’t go away. He’d woken up before dawn, but try as he might, he couldn’t fall back to sleep, and by the time his mother knocked on his door to wake him, the feeling hadn’t dissipated in the slightest. Perhaps he’d had a nightmare during the night but lost the images upon awakening, or maybe he was coming down with something, not that Erwin was ill often at all. In possibly the first instance of his life, Erwin didn’t feel like going to school. Nile had once told him before how he was able to force himself to throw up his breakfast, going on to give him all sorts of tips and tricks, and until now, Erwin had never thought he would ever even consider it. As he tiptoed across his bedroom to step into his slippers, each step only making his unease grow heavier and heavier, he recalled what Nile had claimed as his most successful technique, but the thought of tickling the back of his throat with his fingers seemed far too unpleasant to even attempt, no matter how much he wished to get out of going. Erwin had never missed a day of school, something that he thought might work in his favour when he tried his best to mimic the symptoms of a stomachache as he shuffled into the kitchen, but instead it was a fact used against him. Having his mother remind him that a day of non-attendance would ruin his perfect record had him trying to brush off his feeling of worry. Though he was sure that his acting skills were never going to be up to the task of faking an illness, never being selected to participate in any of the school plays was proof enough of that.

“Anyway, Erwin,” his mother said, one hand on her hip and the other stirring a pot over the stove. “Do you think I didn’t notice your hands? Whatever you did yesterday at school, you have to face up to.”

Caught off guard, having forgotten to keep his hands out of view, Erwin spluttered as he tried to make an excuse or to offer some sort of explanation, but he was cut off before he could say anything.

“I don’t want to hear it. I’m sure your teacher had her reasons.”

Erwin frowned at that, sure that the teachers only thought they had their reasons, when they in fact had no idea what they were talking about. Mrs. Burton wasn’t as fun as he’d been led to believe, not with him anyway.

As he ate large spoonfuls of his porridge and honey, he came to the conclusion that there might have been some truth in what his mother had said, that he was just anxious in case his classmates and teachers were still making a big deal out of what was said the day before. He assured himself it would soon pass, and as he walked through his front garden past the last few summer blooms, he repeated it over and over again in his head, as if he could hide all of his worries beneath it. Walking to school didn’t take long, Erwin’s house being only a few streets over, but the normal hustle and bustle of the town seemed diluted. Everyone spoke in a hushed manner, and it was as if everything moved slower than usual. Again he reminded himself that it would all be fine, but when he walked through the school gates his stomach clenched so hard he groaned. Any other day there would be children running about, playing tag or hopscotch, perhaps climbing the trees at the bottom of the bank at the end of the school field, but instead there were students situated here and there talking with one another, huddled close and talking in small voices. Erwin could see some students pointing in his direction, their eyes boring into him before turning away as he looked up to meet them.

Was everyone this angry about what he’d said yesterday? He couldn’t think of a reason for such a reaction, he hadn’t said anything that could be considered more preposterous than the things Nile often came up with. It was a surprise to say the least, he’d been hoping that everyone would be quick to forget about it. Perhaps the weekend would be enough time for something more interesting to pop up and take hold of the school’s attention, which would mean he’d only have to deal with one day of this. Erwin scanned the field for a friendly face, but if Mike wasn’t there he would be in their classroom taking a nap. Keeping his eyes down, Erwin shuffled toward the classroom, but once he entered the cloakroom he was met with a loud scoff.

“What are you doing here eyebrows!?”

He looked up to see a group of girls from his class huddled together on the benches. They seemed to be crying.

“Go home. No one wants you here.”

“It’s all your fault.”

His first thought was to ask what they were talking about, but the rage in their eyes shook him to the core, and he ran off towards his classroom. Much to his relief, Mike was where Erwin would find him most mornings, sat in his chair, head flat on the desk, and snoring away in a deep sleep. Mike was predictable, something Erwin was so thankful for in that moment.

“Mike,” Erwin whispered, shaking his friend’s shoulders. “Mike, what’s happened?”

Mike lifted up his head and seemed a little lost, which wasn’t so strange after just waking up. He wasn’t a morning person, despite having to get out of bed before dawn each and every day, even on holidays, and he never seemed to really wake up until after lunch. But there was something different about him, too. Although Erwin repeated his question, making sure to say it clearly, Mike didn’t respond, and he wasn’t looking quite at Erwin. Mike was quiet, but he never would say nothing to someone talking to him. Erwin started to ask if he was alright when their teacher, Mrs. Burton, called out to them from the classroom door.

“Boys, head to the hall. We’re having a morning assembly.”

That was odd, they never had assembly before morning registration.

Mike stood, clapped a hand on Erwin’s shoulder and shuffled on ahead to the hall. It wasn’t unusual for his friend to be quiet, but Erwin couldn’t think of a time when Mike acted like this. It didn’t seem like Mike was mad with him, unlike those girls from the cloakroom, but for some reason Mike didn’t want to talk to him. Erwin tried not to think too much of it as he took his seat in the hall, feeling slightly awkward as his position was next to Mike, but once he’d settled, Mike gave Erwin a pat on the back, and something so simple made Erwin feel much less alone.

As Nile shared a birthday with Mike he should have been sitting in the next space on the floor, but it was empty. It wasn’t unlike him to be late, but never by more than a few minutes. Long after the bell rang, and even by the time the headteacher took their place at the front of the hall, Nile still hadn’t arrived. Erwin leaned forward to look down the line of his class to check for all of his classmates but as soon as he did so, the headteacher spoke out from the front, his voice booming down the hall and demanding everyone’s attention.

“Good morning, students.”

Mr. Williams was a man of few words, and when he did speak it was rarely at a volume lower than a bark, and more often than not his words were built upon anger and frustration, rolling off his tongue like hot embers.Today his voice was as powerful as always, but it was thick and slow as if it had to pass through tar. There was a different kind of anger on his face, and a sombreness in his movements that had Erwin fixed where he sat, too aware of himself to even fidget in his discomfort. 

“I am sure that by now many of you have already heard the awful news. For those of you who haven’t, two students from Rose Primary School entered the forest yesterday.”

Erwin felt his stomach lurch and he thought he might throw up his porridge for real.

“Maisy and Gareth Wilson climbed through the wall after school, some time in the early evening. Unfortunately, Maisy passed away a short time after walking into the forest. Her brother Gareth, though alive, will be unable to return to school for the foreseeable future.”

He thought not hearing Nile’s name might make him feel relief, but his stomach continued to ache with just as much ferocity as if it were trying to force its way out through his bellybutton.

“I don’t know how many times you have all been warned about going near that forest; those walls are there for a reason. You must all learn that there are consequences for your actions. Think before you act. Think before you speak.”

Mutterings and whisperings swept across the hall, and there were a number of students sniffling, some wiping their eyes. Erwin chanced to bring his eyes up from the ground and was quick to regret it, catching a few eyes here and there focused on him. It hit him then, why everyone was so hostile to him that morning; they all thought he’d played a part in this.Though Erwin tried not to pay attention to the rest of the assembly, muting out what he could, many of the words crept in, attaching themselves to him and weighing him down. Careless. Dangerous. Death.

All he could bring himself to do was make himself as small as possible, to try and wish away the happenings of yesterday, but when the assembly finally finished, Erwin was still there while Maisy’s place remained empty. As he walked back to class, Erwin’s mental blockade seemed to fail him entirely, and he couldn’t blank out a single thing that was said around him, as if each speaker had their lips pressed right against his ear.

“Poor Maisy and Gareth.”

“This is all Erwin’s fault. I heard him telling Maisy it was safe in there.”

“I heard he pushed her in there.”

“I wish that Demon in the forest was dead.”

“It’s an evil monster.”

“Erwin should go in there and meet it ‘cause he’s the one who should be dead.”

After the first few comments, anything said about Erwin just stacked on top of one another; there was only so far he could sink, after all, but it was difficult hearing his classmates whisper such awful things about Levi, especially when he wasn’t there to defend himself. Erwin wanted to shout at them to shut up, to tell them they had no idea what they were talking about, but instead he clenched his fists tight, anything to ground him, anything to keep himself clear-headed enough to keep his own mouth shut. It was clear now he couldn’t trust anyone else with anything that could come out of it.

Nile didn’t come into school at all that day. His seat remained empty, as well as Maisy’s, though no one seemed to notice Nile’s absence, and Erwin didn’t dare to bring anything up with anyone. Erwin had never spoken much to Maisy, and he couldn’t say that they were friends with one another, but each time his eyes passed the empty seat, his stomach began to ache all over again. Maisy was an energetic girl, pretty, and liked by almost every one, even the teachers were fond of her as she was smart in a way that they could appreciate, unlike Erwin. This wasn’t something he’d intended. He’d only wanted Nile to stop saying such awful things about Levi, but now there was something twisting inside him, a voice inside his head scratching away, telling him it was entirely his fault. It was tiring trying to fight against it.

Erwin spent much of his time waiting to be called out of class by one of the teachers and being marched to the headteacher’s office. The bruises on his knuckles tingled as he anticipated fresh ones being added on top, but the bell signalling the end of the day rang without anything more than a side glance from the teachers, and some nasty name calling from his classmates. He could handle that much, but that didn’t mean he didn’t take the chance to sprint straight out of the front doors as soon as they were given permission to leave. Erwin wasn’t the strongest at running, and he was out of breath by the time he turned the corner at the market square, but he’d given himself a good head start so he was alone for the moment. He could see his house from where he stood gasping for air, but he wasn’t sure if that was where he should be heading. He was sure that his parents had already heard what had happened to Maisy and Gareth. Everyone talked in that town, gossiped like it was their job.

Never before had Erwin wished to be one of the Outliers, people who lived elsewhere in the valley, outside of town, often living lives of solitude. There’d be no one to tell his parents what had happened in that case, Erwin probably wouldn’t even be in school and there would have been nothing to tell his parents.

Looking at his house, a picture of colour amongst the grey slabs of stone owing to his father’s handiwork in the garden, Erwin considered what his parents’ reactions might be when he arrive home. Would they be sad? Angry? Would they believe that Erwin never meant for anything like this to happen?

If he continued walking up the street, but took the path to the left and kept on going, twisting where he needed to, and squeezing passed that one fence with a plank missing, he’d find his way to the river, from where he could sneak out of town unnoticed. He could go straight to Levi. Maybe wait for all of this to blow over. Even though Levi had warned him not to enter the forest alone, it was the best idea he had, so what else could he do but follow it? He darted forward, flicking his eyes between the path and his house, and every now and then looking around him. He was sure there were eyes on him, but he’d long learned how to evade watchful eyes to sneak his way around town. Not those of his father though. Erwin noticed them on him just as he made it to the path where he’d planned to make his escape. His father was stood at the end of their path, one hand perched on the creaky gate, the other held up as a signal to catch Erwin’s attention. It was obvious that he’d seen it as he’d stopped so suddenly and so there was no way Erwin could ignore him and take that left, no matter how much better an option it seemed. As he got closer to his house, he made each step last longer until he was barely lifting his feet from the ground. Erwin had never seen his father angry, but up until now he didn’t think he’d ever done something that would warrant making his father so. This incident might have just been enough to do just that.

When he finally arrived at the gate and summoned all his courage to look up at his father, it wasn’t anger painted across his face, it was a deep sadness, unlike Erwin had seen before. Erwin felt it like a punch in his gut, and try as he might, he couldn’t fight against the stinging at the back of his eyes.

“Come on in, son.”

After removing his shoes, as slowly as he could even while his father watched, Erwin shuffled into the kitchen. His mother was sat at the table, her eyes red and sore. She didn’t look up, her gaze focused instead at her hands on her lap, fingers fighting with each other. The dishes and pots from that morning’s breakfast were still at the sink, and Erwin wondered if his father had been home long, whether his mother had been sat at the table like that all day. She must have heard sometime that morning, not long after he’d left for school, and it pained him to think that she might have been in such a bad state for that many hours. Even after his mother had lightly scolded him for getting into trouble at school, she’d given him the warmest smile when planting a kiss on his cheek that morning before he left.

“Melissa, would you like to go upstairs while I talk with Erwin?”

She shook her head, her faded blond hair coming loose from her bun. It was then she looked right at Erwin, and though he had seen her anger, sadness, and disappointment before now, there was a haunting look in her eyes as if she didn’t recognise him, as he if he were something fearful. It made his throat dry.

Erwin looked up at his father. “Am I in trouble?”

In response his father sighed, so much heavier than he would on even his busiest and most tiring days.

“Let’s just have a little chat first.”

His father took a seat beside his mother and the end of the kitchen table. Not knowing whether he was supposed to join them, Erwin remained where he stood in the centre of the kitchen, feeling so utterly exposed and with nowhere to hide. Though his father beckoned him to come closer, Erwin only shuffled forward the distance of two floor tiles, feeling that he wanted to be as close to the door as possible. He’d never felt like he might have to run from his parents, but this might be as likely a time as any.

“Mr. Williams told me about Maisy and Gareth,” his father said finally, his words cutting through the uncomfortable silence. “I know you’ve heard already.”

Erwin nodded, fiddled with the cuff of his shirt.

“And how are you feeling about that?”

There were an uncountable number of feelings swirling around within him, yet Erwin couldn’t tell which ones were attached to where. He was scared to think too much about it. He’d hate to cry in front of his parents. He couldn’t think of how to answer, and so he shrugged instead, quickly realising it wasn’t the right thing to do.

“Erwin, what have we told you about shrugging?” His mother snapped, her voice breaking.

“It’s okay, Melissa,” his father said, patting her on the knee and keeping his hand there. He turned to Erwin, “That’s a difficult question. I understand you might not know how to answer it.”

His father had always been so understanding, he knew so much about everything after all.

“It’s not easy when someone you know dies, or goes through something awful. And we’ll be here for you when you need to talk about it. But there’s something we have to discuss now, and you’re going to have to try your best to answer me properly.”

Though Erwin managed to fight away the tears, he had to bite his lip to try to stop it from trembling.

“As you know, Maisy and Gareth both went to the forest last night. The issue is that your teachers have told me that you encouraged them to go.”

Did his father believe that? The look in his eyes certainly made it seem that way.

“They said that you told them it was safe to go in the forest, and you knew this because you’d already been in there. I asked your teachers to let me talk to you before they took any action because I wanted to hear it from you. It’s very important to me that you are able to tell me what happened yesterday.” His father took a deep breath, kept his eyes fixed on Erwin. “Son, I need you to be honest with me. Have you ever entered the forest?”

Telling the truth once about the forest hadn’t turned out so well. This whole mess was because he’d been stupid enough to trust Nile with something that should have remained secret from everyone, but especially him, the big blabbermouth he was. Erwin knew he should have been able to truth his father and mother. Even on his mother’s worst days, when it seemed the smallest things sent her into a panic, Erwin knew enough that she care about him more than anything else, and that more often than not her outbursts were born from worry. His father took the time to explain this each time his mother became unbearably upset with Erwin. Even so, when it came to his parents, there wasn’t anyone Erwin was more scared of letting down. However, when it came to the forest and Levi, it seemed there would never be any good of telling the truth, this whole terrible incident being clear proof of that. It was clear from the look in his father’s eyes that he wanted more than anything for it to be untrue, a simple misunderstanding. Erwin had no doubt that his father needed to hear that Erwin had never been into the forest, so surely telling him it was all a lie was the right thing to do.

So Erwin shook his head, making sure to look both his parents in the eye to make it appear more honest.

“I haven’t been in there. Everyone says you’ll die if you go in.”

He couldn’t tell whether or not they were convinced, nothing obvious shown in their faces, and his father only nodded before continuing.

“Have you ever told anyone you’ve been in the forest?”

“No.”

“You see, Erwin, that’s not what Mrs. Dawk said after she’d had a talk with Nile.”

So Nile really was fine then. He must have just skipped school today, probably using one of his techniques to make himself sick.

“Well Nile’s a big, fat liar.”

“Erwin, we don’t talk like that in this house.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled quickly, his embarrassment dragging his eyes to the floor.

“So, are you telling me that Nile was lying?”

It would have been so easy to throw Nile into the stinking puddle of blame, he was sure his parents would believe it. They’d never much taken to Nile, considered him a little too rough around the edges, but even if Erwin was prepared to lie to save his own skin, he wasn’t willing to get anyone else in trouble while doing so.

“Not lying,” he said, starting to play with his fingers, having grown tired of pulling at his shirt cuff. “But he got it wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” Erwin made a half-shrug, stopping himself when he realised what he was doing. He had no idea what he was supposed to say. This was all too much, it had been the worst day ever and he just wanted to be allowed to go to his room. “Nile was telling stories, like always. Stupid stories about the forest, and I just wanted him to be quiet. So, I told some stories too. But, I can’t remember what I said.”

His father didn’t say anything for a short while. He ran his hands through his beard as he looked at Erwin, that deep look that made Erwin feel like his father was inside his mind, taking apart his thoughts.

“I only want to know why your classmates think you told Maisy and her brother to go into the forest,” his father said with a thoughtful hum, holding out his arms as if welcoming an explanation from Erwin.

Erwin wanted to repeat that it was because Nile was in fact a big, fat liar and that was the whole truth, but there was no way he’d get off lightly if he were to say it a second time.

“I don’t know,” Erwin repeated.

“What exactly did you say to them yesterday?”

“I didn’t say anything to them.”

“So you didn’t tell them that they should go into the forest.”

“No.”

“Did you tell them it would be safe for them to go in there?”

“No, I didn’t.” At least that was all true. Erwin hadn’t said a single word to either of them yesterday. In fact, Erwin didn’t think he’d ever spoken to Gareth, the boy was two years above, and Erwin didn’t talk to any of the bigger kids. When he told his parents so, his father appeared to look just a little bit relieved with his answer, nodding as Erwin spoke.

“Just one more thing, son,” his father said, his voice so kind yet it did little to relax Erwin. What sort of stories were you telling Nile? I know you said you can’t remember, but try to remember something. We won’t be angry. We just need to know what happened.”

How should he play this? Tell a complete lie, tell a half truth? What was going to be the thing that would make his parents feel most at ease, get him out of trouble, but sound believable enough that he could pull it off? He wished he could be anywhere other than there at that moment. He wished Levi wasn’t trapped in that forest. He wished that Levi could come and save him from this, just for a little while, long enough that no one remembered what had happened.

“Nile was saying that the Demon is evil, and that he eats people’s organs. I only said that maybe he wasn’t evil, that no one really knows. Like you said once.”

Erwin thought the last line would add credibility, but when he saw his father’s face fall, the breath escaped from his chest, and he wished he could take it back, to snatch the words from the air and force them back down his throat. Telling even only a half lie was so difficult to navigate, and it was so tiring not knowing what was the right thing to say, what was the right thing to do to fix it, but before Erwin could even try to cover it with something else, his father gave a small smile and Erwin thought that maybe everything was okay after all.

“Is that the whole truth?” His father asked, to which Erwin nodded.

He’d left a lot out, but he didn’t want his father to press anymore. It hadn’t been at all easy for Erwin so far, and his mother was growing agitated, her right leg bouncing beneath her skirt. His father seemed to notice at the same time.

“That’s all I needed to know for now,” his father said, groaning as he stood up, a matter of age he would always say. Erwin braced himself as his father walked closer, though he had no idea why, but his father simply patted him on the head, stroking his fingers through his hair. “Head on up to your room, son. We’ll call you down for dinner.”

There was no doubt that indicated the end of discussion, something Erwin was only relieved by. He scuffled up the stairs as quickly as he could, and in his haste his socks slid on the painted wood and he was almost sent right back down to the bottom on his stomach. As he closed his bedroom door behind him, he let out a long breath. He hoped he’d never have to go through anything like that again.

Eager to get out of his school clothes and simply settle in the corner of the room with a book, he tore off his jumper, threw it onto his bed and started to unbutton his trousers. His mother’s voice telling him to empty his pockets came to mind, something he always forgot to do. Though Erwin knew he was considered a good child in his parents’ eyes, after seeing them so upset earlier, he was going to have to be on his absolute best behaviour from now on. He slipped his hand into his pocket and felt something soft. It was the buttercup Mike had given him the day before, its stalk and petals now limp, and as Erwin closed his hand around it, being careful not to damage it more, he realised that despite all the people who’d come to hate him, it was clear that there were still those who cared. The thought warmed his chest. He placed the flower inside a book, between the pages, something he’d seen his mother do many times.

He wasn’t sure if he was completely out of trouble, but the promise of dinner later meant it couldn’t be too bad. His father had seemed to accept the answers to his questions, and with his parents on his side, surely there’d be nothing more to come of this. However, Erwin wasn’t stupid enough to get his hopes up for being able to go to the forest the next day. Levi was probably going to be so annoyed when Erwin didn’t show up, and wished he had a way to tell him that he wasn’t going to be there, just so Levi wouldn’t end up waiting at their meeting spot for no reason. Erwin made a promise that the next time he could go, most likely the following weekend, he would take something sweet for Levi, a small apology he was sure he would accept.

As Erwin thought about what he would take, perhaps scones again, maybe a slice of apple tart if he could persuade his mother to make some, his thoughts drifted to Maisy and Gareth, and how they’d entered the forest. Did Levi know what had happened? Erwin thought about telling Levi about this whole incident, but he worried that Levi might think less of him for it. What if Levi was on the side of his classmates and teachers. Levi had warned him time and time again about the dangers of the forest, that Erwin was just lucky he had the right blood. Displeased with the direction his thoughts were heading, Erwin shook them away, and continued to think about all the sweet goods he could take. Everything would be fine. Levi was his friend, and there was nothing sweet, baked goods couldn’t fix. The thing Erwin had to worry about was school, but he was sure that with time, things would simply return back to normal.


	14. Chapter 14

Perched on his bedroom windowsill, Erwin looked out to the street. There weren’t many people about as most of the townsfolk were either at work or school, but every now and then someone would come into view, and Erwin would have something to distract him for however long it took them to walk up the street. A pair of old women shuffled along the path in front of the house, their steps in sync and their arms hooked at the elbow. They could have been sisters, maybe friends. Erwin didn’t think he recognised them but with deep wrinkles masking any distinctive features and their matching heads of tight, grey curls they could have been any of the old women that lived in the town.

One of them wore a red scarf, and the other a grey one so similar in style they must have been woven by the same hands. Erwin used the colour of their scarves to tell them apart as nothing else about their appearance, not their faces nor their drab clothes was enough to distinguish them from one another. He watched as the woman with the red scarf tugged on her friend’s arm so that they stopped just by the front gate and pointed at the house as she spoke into the grey-scarved woman’s ear. Erwin leaned closer to the window as if it would help him hear what was being said, but he pulled back when they both looked up and spotted him. It wasn’t a kind look they threw his way before they shuffled off wherever they were headed, shaking their heads.

Erwin thought about retreating from the windowsill, but there wasn’t anything better to do. He hadn’t been at school all week, his parents having decided that it was for the best, just until things settled down a bit more. But with the way things had been going, Erwin didn’t think that would ever happen. He’d been told that time was a great healer, and Erwin had thought that as the days went by, the glumness that had settled over the town and their house would lighten little by little, but there were constant reminders that this wasn’t something that a matter of days could sweep aside. On the second day of missing school, Erwin’s father had decided that it was more than enough time to be stuck indoors, and proposed they do some work in the garden. Erwin hadn’t needed any persuading, feeling that normalcy was making itself present once more. His father had only left him alone for a minute, maybe two, while he popped inside to retrieve a tool he’d forgotten, more than enough time however for some kids from his school to reach over their garden fence and launch stones at him, calling names that grew worse and worse with each throw.

Erwin had thought that it couldn’t possibly get worse than that, had been sure that it could only get better, but the following evening had been the worst part of this whole incident. Sat round the kitchen table with piping hot carrot soup waiting to be devoured, Erwin had been so grateful for the first night that both his mother and father hadn’t been on the other side of the kitchen table with their mouths shut in an awkward silence that Erwin didn’t dare interrupt.

His father hadn’t stopped asking questions since he’d ended their discussion that first night. He promised that he believed Erwin, that he was just trying to paint the whole picture, but his mother had demanded that the dinner table was one place that the topic not be brought up.

This only meant that they ended up talking about nothing. However that night, perhaps time was perhaps finally starting to work at stitching up what had been torn apart, or perhaps the deliciousness of the soup had everyone in better spirits than all week, but the dinner table was lit up with pleasant conversation, his mother and father discussing their days and Erwin chipping in when questioned. Their bowls weren’t even half empty when a knock sounded from the door, loud and desperate.

His parents never told Erwin who was at the door, but Erwin had heard enough to figure it out. The wails of Maisy and Gareth’s mother rattling down the hall and into the kitchen were like nothing Erwin had heard before. By the time someone else had come to collect Mrs. Wilson and his parents returned to the table, the soup had long gone cold. Erwin’s stomach had ached, and his throat had felt like it was so close to closing itself off, but he’d gulped down every last bite of soup while his parents had sat across from him with red eyes and sealed lips, the uncomfortable quiet having taken over once more. It had lasted the whole evening, the next day, and that morning too.Erwin was sure then that his parents would never see him like they once did, no longer their good, little boy. He hadn’t seen his mother since lunchtime when they’d eaten a sandwich together, cheese and pickles, his favourite, but with her staring off at the wall beside him and Erwin feeling so small, he could barely taste it.

A noise from the street caught Erwin’s attention. He saw the first bunch of kids from the class below him making their way home from school, kicking a ball to one another, smiling all wide mouthed and roaring with laughter. They didn’t spare his house a second glance which was a small relief, but he couldn’t shake the look those old women had given him, as if he were a dirty pest.

If school had already ended, his father would likely be home in an hour or two. His father had set him homework to complete so as not to fall behind in class, but he’d long finished it, completing the last equation just as his mother called him down for lunch. The weekend would be starting the following day, but Erwin was under no illusions that he would be free to leave the house as he wished.

The forest wasn’t visible from Erwin’s house, no matter which window he looked out from. He might have been able to see the tops of the trees if he were to stand on the roof, but there was no way of getting there to test it out, and Erwin didn’t trust his climbing skills or balance anyway. He’d fallen from enough trees out in the valley when playing with friends to know that.

Knowing full well that he couldn’t go to the forest, Erwin wished that he was able to at least see the forest, some irrational part inside of him needing to know that it was still there. Erwin had no idea when he’d next have a chance to go see Levi, but he no longer knew how he felt about returning to the forest, tingles of unease settling in his stomach whenever he thought of heading back there. He had no doubt about wanting to see Levi, he was his best friend after all, but the forest had become something tainted, something scarier than Erwin had ever imagined. It was one thing when it was all stories and tales and only someone who knew someone who knew someone had died there, but now it was someone who Erwin knew, a classmate, and it was no mere story.

When his parents had thought he was tucked in bed and asleep, Erwin had been listening to them talk each night, the walls thin enough to hear even their hushed voices. He tried not to make a habit of listening to other people’s conversations, having been warned enough times of how rude it was, but when he was the topic of the discussion Erwin simply couldn’t help but be determined to figure out what was being said.

Adults were odd. They either knew everything or nothing and there never seemed to be an in between. Erwin would often rejoice when he had the chance to listen in to a conversation where the adults knew everything and he could learn information he wouldn’t have been privy to otherwise, but for perhaps the first time ever, Erwin truly regretted learning what he hadn’t known before. A woman, who Erwin hadn’t been able to recognise from voice, had detailed to his parents exactly what had happened to Maisy and her brother Gareth. It was worse than Erwin had thought, more horrible than he could ever have imagined. Maisy had only been recognisable for the clothes she’d been wearing, and though Gareth had made it out alive, most people were doubting that was a good thing. Erwin shuddered, trying to banish the thoughts from his mind.

There were many feelings going through Erwin, twisting and swirling inside him, fighting for dominance. Today, it was anger that stomped down everything else and smothered all of Erwin’s thoughts. Why had they gone into the forest? Erwin hadn’t told anyone that they should go in there, he remembered being quite specific to Nile that not any normal person could go in there.

Why was the forest like it was? The more Erwin thought about it, the more annoying it was that Levi wouldn’t simply tell him the whole truth. Perhaps if Erwin had known more, this wouldn’t have happened. Erwin would have had more reason to keep his mouth shut.

Friends of his parents, some that Erwin knew and some that he didn’t, had been in and out of his house all week. They all had their own opinion on the matter. For all the people that thought Erwin was an irresponsible and foolish boy, the same amount of people defended him by way of throwing the blame on the forest and its Demon.

Erwin wished he hadn’t listened to those conversations, hadn’t made the effort to sneak downstairs and press his ear against the closed door, as the more he listened, the more he questioned his portion of blame. Worse than that though, he’d had to hear so many awful things said about Levi, much worse than anything he’d heard at school.

Every now and then, something would be said and a seed of doubt implanted itself into Erwin’s mind, but as soon as they’d start to grow he’d tear them out at the roots. Erwin knew Levi better than anyone else, knew that Levi had nothing to do with this. He was eager to see Levi again, even if it meant heading into that cursed forest that had cursed his schoolmates. After all, Levi was as much a victim, being trapped in such a nightmarish place. Pacing about his room, Erwin though about the forest and all of the hideous things he’d seen in there, but then those bright orange trees that stood out like flames against the dreary greys and browns came to mind. The place where Levi had made home wasn’t all too bad either, the grass soft and lush and decorated in all sorts of flowers that Erwin didn’t recognise. It was clear then that Erwin was simply spooked by what had happened to Maisy. He didn’t have anything to worry about when he next visited Levi, but he realised now just how lucky it was that he had sorcerer blood. When he’d first entered that forest, strolling up to the wall one day without telling anyone, he hadn’t considered even for a moment that it could have been his last day. Erwin had never thought that the forest could have been as dangerous as people claimed, and he groaned when he was hit with the thought that some of Nile’s wildest stories might have had a some truth to them all along.

The time until his father returned home seemed to drag on endlessly. Erwin flittered about his room, from the windowsill to the bookshelf, to his desk and back to the windowsill. Erwin had no idea how best to keep himself entertained, or if he even wanted to entertain himself, but it was a cautious joy he felt when he heard the front door clicking open and shut. He didn’t know how far back the incident the night before would have set them all. Mrs. Wilson’s howling came to mind again, making his stomach lurch. He hoped he’d eventually forget that sound.

Even though his homework was long finished, he sat at his desk and kicked at the air as he waited for his father to come upstairs, as was his daily routine after he’d spoken about his day to his mother.

It seemed to take longer than usual, but eventually his father came up the stairs, his feet heavy against the wood, and he knocked on the door before pushing it open.

“Hello, Erwin. How are we doing today?”

“Welcome back, Father. I finished all my school work.”

Erwin smiled as he moved his body out the way so his father could see the stacked paperwork beside him. It was a relief to see his father smile in return, it widening when he came over to the desk, flicking through Erwin’s hard work.

“You’ve done well, I’ll make sure to check it properly later.”

It felt so good to have finally done something right.

“Would you like to come to the market with me, Erwin? I have to pick up a few things.”

There was nothing Erwin would like more. Even after those boys had said such awful things when he’d been out in the garden, and one of the stones that struck him had left a small bruise on his arm, Erwin was eager to get out of the house. He gave a slow nod, an uncomfortable mix of excitement and caution swirling inside him, and it seemed his father could sense it.

“Things have been quite tough this week, haven’t they?” His father said, placing a large hand on Erwin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if my mood hasn’t been at its best. Even adults have a hard time working through things. It will get better though. We’ll move past this.”

It was a comfort to know that Erwin wasn’t alone in this, that he had his father by his side trying to wade through this week with has much confusion as he was. Erwin smiled, a small attempt to bat away his father’s unease. His mother had once told him that a smile worked much like the sun breaking through heavy, grey clouds, and he knew his mother to be wise, especially when he saw his father’s face relax and the lines under his eyes smooth out somewhat.

“Grab your cardigan, son. It’s not so warm out today.”

His mother stroked a hand through his hair and told the both of them to not come back too late as they stepped out the house. Erwin couldn’t help but glance left and then right, both when passing the front door and the gate, just to make sure there was no one waiting to ambush him. It seemed his father sensed his concerns, and took hold of his hand, as if to remind Erwin he was there right beside him.

“How do you feel about going back to school after the weekend?” His father asked when they were half way down the street.

Erwin thought for a moment. “I’d like that. I think.”

“You think?” His father said, a hint of humour on his lips. “Erwin, I don’t think you’ve ever been unsure about anything in your life.”

Erwin kicked at a pebble on the ground. It bounced once, twice, and then sprang sideways, landing well out of reach. “Everyone is really mad at me. I don’t know if anyone will be my friend anymore.”

“I think your classmates just need some time. It’s understandable that they’re upset.”

“But it wasn’t my fault,” he grumbled back with a pout.

It depended on the day the extent to which Erwin believed that. He was mostly certain that he wasn’t entirely to blame, after all, if Nile had only kept his mouth shut after he’d shook on it, Erwin was sure none of this would have happened. Through Mrs. Zacharius, who’d popped over that morning, Erwin had heard that Nile hadn’t been at school all week either. Erwin was so annoyed with his friend, if he could even call him that anymore, that he didn’t really care much for the reason, but Erwin had little doubt that Nile was simply skiving.

“It’s common that when something bad happens, people feel they need someone at whom they can point their fingers. No one wants to believe that sometimes bad things just happen, as it makes them feel like they have little control over their lives.”

Erwin didn’t reply. He had no idea what was the correct response and it felt awful, never having had such difficulty speaking with his father. What he was supposed to say wouldn’t come out, and there was no way he could talk in full about the things he wanted to talk about. Perhaps if he’d been honest from the beginning, none of this would have happened, his father would have known exactly how to deal with everything.

They turned into the market square and their silence was made meaningless in the liveliness of the town centre.

There were people taking care of errands, hopping from one shop to the next with baskets in their arms, some full and still plenty empty, and others engaged in idle chatter in shop doorways or at one of the few bars that were open this early. Entertainers were setting up space around the fountain in the middle of the square, preparing for their evening shows. Erwin’s parents had taken him a few times and though he often fell asleep before the end, he’d enjoyed the music, the show and even simply the atmosphere.

Some older kids made themselves known as students of his father when they called out his name, their arms high in the air as they waved to him, and they all broke out into pleased laughter when his father waved back. It’d be another six years until Erwin would be old enough to be in his father’s class, such a long time away yet he looked forward to it immensely. He often imagined sitting right at the front of the class, raising his hand to answer every single one of his father’s questions, correctly of course, and to always volunteer to read out loud.

Erwin spotted some children from his own class and hid himself behind his father’s legs until they were out of sight, just in case. His father didn’t stop him from doing so, but he made sure Erwin wasn’t standing too close to his legs as he stepped through a shop door. Looking up, Erwin recognised it as the stationery store where his father often purchased supplies for his classes. Though unlikely, Erwin hoped that later they would go into the bookshop which easily tied first place with the sweetshop for his favourite shop in the whole town. He didn’t even necessarily want to buy anything, though he wouldn’t ever say no. Today, it would be enough just to look, check if there were anything new.

“Wait by the door for me, Erwin,” his father said, patting him on the head. “I won’t be a few moments.”

Erwin did as he was told and stood patiently by the entrance. For as long as he could, anyway. After a while, it was clear that his father was in fact going to be a few moments, and most likely he’d take even longer than that. He was stuck in a deep conversation with the shop owner who was leaning over the counter to talk to him, and for once the conversation seemed to not be about Erwin, their gazes entirely focused on one another rather than sneaking side glances towards him. In any case, the shop was only getting busier, people leisurely browsing the shelves of pens and ink all well out of Erwin’s reach, and he only seemed to be getting in the way where he was standing. He stepped out of the shop, but remained beside the door, an easy workaround to follow his father’s instructions. Erwin was so clever.

Market day was tomorrow, and there were already a few people here and there setting up the structure of their stalls, eager to claim the best spot. Erwin was sure they weren’t allowed to do so until dusk but there were no townsguard to be seen, and it wouldn’t that be much longer until the sun started to dip behind the mountains. The square seemed to get busier by the minute, and Erwin watched in quiet as the people went about their lives, so absorbed in their errands that they paid him no mind. It was a secluded town, small and largely uneventful in Erwin’s opinion. Unlike in his books where all sorts of travellers would make their ways across the world, frequenting new towns, exploring grand cities and meeting new people, in his town no one came and no one left.

Even so, there always seemed to be people Erwin didn’t recognise. Lately he’d been feeling trapped, bored with the sameness of this town, but perhaps it was bigger than he thought, with much left to discover.

He heard a noise to his right which snapped his attention from the people in the square zigzagging through one one another. There was a cat, thin and black, perched atop wooden pallets at the edge of the alleyway beside the bookshop. As he took some steps closer, the cat quirked its head to the side, and Erwin couldn’t help but be reminded of Levi, especially when it seemed to sneer in disdain and hiss as he walked a few more steps closer with an arm outstretched to try to stroke it. When Erwin’s fingers were mere inches away, the cat leapt down to the ground, ran a circle around his legs and moved further down the alleyway. Taking a quick glance through the shop window, he saw that his father was still talking to the shop owner, and Erwin was sure he’d be there for at least a little while longer. Deciding he could move away from the front of the store for just a little while, he wasn’t going far after all, Erwin stepped into the alley to look for the cat. The sun’s reach was interrupted by the buildings on either side, and the cat was sat there in the darkness, licking at its paws. It stopped when it noticed Erwin, most likely hearing his feet scoff along the floor. He took care to move with more caution, determined to prove to the cat that he was no threat, and stepped forward with his palm upright. Erwin wondered if it belonged to anyone, or if it were a stray, free to roam to streets as it pleased.

“It’s okay,” Erwin said, his voice soft. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Oi. Boy.”

The voice was gruff, thick, and as it echoed off the closed walls, the cat scarpered away through a gap in the wooden fence closing off the alley, small enough that Erwin would have no chance of fitting through. He turned round to see a tall, broad figure at the entrance and two smaller ones standing either side. After his eyes adjusted, he could make out the man in the middle, the one who spoke.

It was Maisy's father, Mr. Wilson. Erwin remembered him from the village festival last year, a jolly man in charge of the raffle, wearing a beaming grin as he called out the winning numbers. Looking at him now, Erwin wasn’t sure how he recognised him. His face was haggard and his eyes dark as if he’d smeared charcoal under them. He certainly wasn’t smiling. As his eyes met Erwin’s, his mouth turned down before it transforming into a snarl, much like a crazed dog.

“Yer the lil shit who gon’ an’ told my Maisy and Gareth to go into that damned forest, aint ya?”

His face was twisted and almost glowed in its redness, and when he marched forward, each step was like a hammer striking an anvil. Mr. Wilson was a miner working in the mountains in the east, and his stature showed it. Erwin thought that if the man kept coming forward, he’d be crushed beneath him.

“Father,” Erwin attempted to call out, but it got caught in his throat. “Papa!” But his voice was nothing against the noise of the town square, so all he could do was take a step back, inching closer to the wall behind him. 

“Go on,” Mr. Wilson barked, following each of Erwin’s steps with one of his own. “Why’d ya go off spouting about how safe it were in there?! It shoulda been you buried. But not before blistering at the skin like you’d been burned from the inside.”

Erwin heard his father calling his name and called out in return, his voice trembling as he forced it through his lips clamped shut with fear.

“What is going on?” His father demanded, taking long strides to be at Erwin’s side. Not wasting even a moment, Erwin grabbed his father’s hand and tucked himself at his side, hiding his face in the material of his father’s trousers. His knees felt weak, the air around him heavy against his body.

One of Mr. Wilson’s friends spoke up, a man with scruffy red hair and a bushy beard to match. If the state of his clothes were anything to go by, Erwin guessed he worked in the mines too.

“We didn’t mean anything by it, Harold. He wasn’t gonna hurt your kid, we-”

But Mr. Wilson cut him off with a wave of his hand, pointing then at Erwin’s father with a finger which was black at the nails.

“Your shit of a son killed my daughter. May as well have killed my son an’ all. Just wanted a chat.”

Erwin’s father tensed.“He’s just a child.”

“So was Maisy!” Mr. Wilson roared back, and Erwin’s stomach clenched in fright. He hadn’t though such anger was possible.

“Robert, I am so sorry about what happened to your children.” His father said, his own voice remaining calm, measured, and his thumb stroked the back of Erwin’s palm in a circular motion.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do with a ‘sorry’?”

“Come on now, let us discuss this like adults.”

“There’s nothin’ to discuss. Your son-”

“Anything my son might have said to your children, I can assure you there was no malicious intent.”

“He told my Maisy that forest were safe.”

“I-I didn’t” Erwin said quietly, gripping his father’s hand even tighter. Though he brought his face out of hiding between the folds of his father’s clothes, he kept his eyes fixed on the ground at his feet. He didn’t dare look up at Mr. Wilson. “I was talking to Nile and-”

“Calling Gareth a liar?” Mr. Wilson hissed with wild eyes as he lunged forward. His arms were poised to grab Erwin, but his father stepped in the man’s path, shielding Erwin behind him. Mr. Wilson was no taller than Erwin’s father, but his shoulders were easily twice as wide. Even so, he halted and redirected his anger to his fists, clenching and unclenching them over and over. They looked to be near the size of Erwin’s own head, and he winced thinking how much it must hurt to be hit with one of them.

“Stand back, Robert.” His father had remained calm up until that point, but the tone he spoke in then was like nothing Erwin had heard from his father before. There was something fierce in his voice, and Erwin felt the strength in his grip. It didn’t hurt. It only made Erwin feel safer.

Mr. Wilson took a step back, a menacing sneer spreading wide across his face.

“Gareth ain’t been able to say much since we found him. It’s mostly screaming what he does. He’s in pain. Constantly. Light burns his skin. But the dark, that puts all sortsa nightmares in his head. Was able to tell me enough though, told me what that shit had been spouting.”

“Whatever was said, and to whomever it was said, the fault can be traced back to me.”

Erwin tore his gaze from the ground to look up at his father.

“I had been telling Erwin tales, forgetting that a child so often gets lost between reality and fiction.”

It made Erwin feel foolish, but to try to defend himself here and explain the truth of it all would only make a fool of his father too. He felt sick. He felt dizzy. He just wanted to go home.

“So any grievances you have, I’m the one you have to deal with. Not my son. He’s a good boy, a boy with a love for stories. He never meant any harm.”

Erwin wanted to wipe his face. His cheeks were wet with tears and he was tired of the battle to keep his nose from running freely but he didn't dare move. From the corner of his eye he saw the cat poke its head from the gap it had escaped into. If only Erwin were able to shrink. He would’ve been able to make himself small, small enough to crawl into that small gap and hide, perhaps small enough that no one would be able to find him for a long, long time. The cat extended a paw from its hole, before deciding to retreat once more. It must have been waiting to reclaim its alleyway this whole time, and Erwin hoped they could leave soon and allow the cat back into its home, and then they could make their way back to theirs.

His father called his name, and Erwin realised the adults had continued talking. He looked up to meet his father’s eyes, his gentle smile not quite reaching them.

“Erwin. Get on home, son.”

“Papa?”

“Robert and I just need to discuss this like grown-ups, don’t you worry. Tell your mother I’ll be along soon.”

Though Erwin wanted to protest, he was frightened, and he couldn’t will himself to say a single word. His fear had his feet rooted to the ground, his hand clenched tight in his father’s, but when he felt his father ruffle his hand through his hair like he always did, his body relaxed. His father was the smartest person in town, most likely the whole world, so he knew what he was doing. Erwin was sure his father would be able to sort this all out, and things would go back to normal. After releasing his grip, Erwin gave a big nod to show that he understood. He’d already caused enough trouble by not listening to his father, so it was the least he could do now.

As Erwin treaded towards the alley entrance, he kept his eyes low as if it could make himself less visible to the two men who still stood in his path. He could sense them staring at him. The look in their eyes unsettled him so much that as soon as he stepped out onto the street, he started running without once looking back.

He was heaving for air by the time he arrived home, and his legs wobbled so much he thought he’d be unable to make it to the front door. Pushing open the garden gate, Erwin winced as it creaked louder than he’d ever heard it, as if it were announcing his arrival. Beneath the living room window that looked out the front, some plants were curled up high, their buds knocking against the glass as the wind bounced them about gently. Erwin had heard his father say he intended to trim them on the weekend, weather allowing, so he decided that when his father returned he would offer his help.

With as quiet movement as he could muster, Erwin pushed opened the front door, hoping that his mother would be out back or perhaps busy in the kitchen, but she was in the front room and came out to meet him as soon as he closed the door, the latch clicking sharply, breaking through the stillness of the house.

“Where is your father?” She asked, looking from Erwin to the door and back again.

Erwin looked down at his feet. “He’s still at the market.”

There was a long pause, quiet and uncomfortable but Erwin waited, allowing some time for the door to open up behind him. It would probably take a little more time. Erwin couldn’t imagine that his father would run back home like he had.

“He said…He said he’ll be back soon.”

Though he thought now would be the perfect time to give his mother a smile, a small attempt to clear away the worries so clear on her face, his own concerns made his face stiff, and he was unwilling to move his lips while he was unsure what might've come out.When his mother didn’t say anything more, he kicked off his shoes and ran up to his bedroom, somehow not stumbling on his shaky legs. He headed straight for the window where he could see the street in front of the house, a few people here and there going about their day as normal. Sitting himself on the windowsill, Erwin pressed his nose up against the glass, fixed his sights on the corner which lead to the market, and waited for his father to return.


	15. Chapter 15

Erwin wasn’t coming. Not that Levi cared. At least, that’s what he told himself. But Erwin hadn’t come the previous week either, nor the week before that. Perhaps the kid had finally become bored with the forest; it wasn’t exactly a playground in here. Levi looked ahead at the wall, itself not an inviting feature, and all around him there were trees that curled and twisted as if trying to break free from their roots, to escape the cursed soil they sprouted from. The grass that grew on this side of the barrier was sparse, an ugly green that was closer to yellow, and so dry yet it refused to die and wither away completely. Levi couldn’t blame the kid for not wanting to spend his time here. There was also a chance that Erwin had been caught sneaking here, and had received a scolding so severe he daren’t set foot near the walls again. Levi let the possible reasons roll around in his head, convincing himself how much better it would be now that he could go back to spending his days alone in relative peace. The kid had been getting too comfy here anyway. It would be better for both of them if he chose to never come back.

The sun was slowly making its journey across the sky, towing the day along with it. By now it must have been way past noon, the time Levi had set before he was supposed to turn back, but he decided it wouldn’t hurt to stick around just a little longer. Though he tried to keep his reasonings for why Erwin hadn’t shown up lighthearted, something didn’t feel right, and his instincts were rarely wrong.

From where Levi stood, he could just about see the hole in the wall where Erwin would crawl through. Never needing to get any closer, nor wanting to, he’d made a habit of waiting for the kid some way away under the cover of the trees, leaning against a thick tree trunk. Levi didn’t like getting too close to the magical barrier sealing him on this side of the wall, but as more time passed he could no longer ignore his worry, it starting to gnaw at his insides, working its way out and making his skin itch.

The bark was dry and rough against his palm as he pushed himself from the tree, and the grass brittle enough to crack beneath his soles as he treaded closer to the gap in the wall. His skin tingled ever so slightly, and the hair on his arms prickled and stood on end, but he was well aware of how close he could get to the border so he inched forward until he stood in front of the hole, as close to it as he could get without risking his skin being torn apart.It had been so long since he’d tried to look beyond the wall. He remembered sometime after the appearance of the wall - not long after he was first trapped here - hacking away at a tree with makeshift tools, having it collapse so it brought down some of the wall with it. The barrier had remained unaffected, and the broken section of wall had only given him a view of the meadow outside, a long expanse of freedom he couldn’t reach.

Levi got up on his tiptoes to try and get a better view through the wall, even though he was sure it wouldn’t help him understand anything about what was going on, but it was only then that he smelt it. Humans that he didn’t know had been here recently. Children. How hadn’t he noticed? The last few decades of idleness had made him so unobservant, and the magic that kept him trapped in there dulled everything, especially this close to the wall. It masked the air in a stench, much like that of days’ old blood and burning corpses, an awful tang on the tongue. For a Demon not unused to getting caught up in human affairs, he should have been accustomed to such an environment, but it was something he never took to.

He looked closer at the wall, which stood perhaps four or five of his longest strides from where the barrier held him back, and grimaced as he noticed something smeared on some of the stones. It looked greasy, and he could see a red tinge, though it looked like the recent rain had washed away much of it. Taking a step back, Levi looked at the ground around him, realising then why he could smell it so strongly. The same stains that were on the wall were on the grass around him, the blades here and there an ugly colour, marking a path to the wall. He crouched down to inspect it and almost gagged as the smell hit him. There was no doubt that it was of human origin. At first he thought it might just be blood, what with the redness, but when he breathed through his nose again his stomach churned. There was something else. Melted flesh. Not an unfamiliar smell, unfortunately. Concentrating as much as he could, Levi was able to sense the lingering presence of two children, and the unmistakeable stench of death. At least one of them had died in this very spot.

“Shit.”

It was a guilty relief Levi felt when he confirmed that the child who’d died here wasn’t Erwin, but he just knew that this had something to do with Erwin’s absence the last few weeks, the scent not at all fresh. What was this forest doing to him? It would never usually take him this long to realise that something had happened inside the forest, his senses so weak now that he had to be stood right on top of it to figure it out. Regardless of how futile he knew it would be, Levi took a deep breath and concentrated on all the sounds and smells around him, allowing them to tell him where they’d been and where they were going, but no matter how much he focused and tried to narrow his senses, he couldn’t tell where Erwin was nor if he were safe. He may as well have been trying to hear a grasshopper chirp on the other side of the world.

Levi had become too careless, he never should’ve allowed for Erwin to become involved with him. Demons and humans were an awful mix, and this damned forest was bad news for everyone. It was too late for these two kids, and there was nothing he could do for Erwin here. Before he turned around, he cast one last look through the wall. At his height he couldn’t get a good enough angle to see more than the peaks of the mountains at the opposite end of the valley and the sky above it, such an ordinary blue with a spattering of wispy clouds. He sighed. What a shit day. For the first time in years, the feeling of sickness hit him hard in the stomach, and all he wanted to do was head back to the centre of the forest and sleep, though he had no idea if he’d be able to.

As soon as he took his first few steps back towards the forest, he heard voices from beyond the wall, and he didn’t need senses other than his hearing to know that there were a lot of them. He’d known this was coming, it always would whenever someone managed to get themselves killed in the forest. It was a headache for Levi, and he’d usually only hope he was far enough away from the wall when it did happen.

The mob came closer, their shouting vibrating the air much like a swarm of bees. There was always a particularly violent sense of anger whenever a child died. There had been two children here, and one had died only a few steps in front of him, not an easy death either. Levi couldn’t tell what had happened to the other child. They hadn’t died here, but it wasn’t so rare that a cursed victim would be afflicted with something that took days or weeks to wear the body down. Of course, there was the chance that the other child hadn’t died at all, but if they weren’t of Sorcerer’s blood, Levi was sure they were now wishing that they had.

What Levi wouldn’t give to be able to tear up the forest and be done with this misery. He tried imagining what a younger him would’ve thought about all this, but he probably wouldn’t have cared much at all. Sometimes, Levi didn’t know which version of himself he preferred. Shaking away the thought, Levi took some steps back and made to turn to retreat back to the centre, but when he sneaked a quick look back at the gap in the wall, there was a face looking back at him. The crowd had been closer to the wall than he’d thought. The man on the other side of the wall shrieked, and a different man pushed him aside, sticking his head through the gap instead. He had wide eyes framed by a shock of red hair, a red beard and a face red with rage, and as soon as he caught sight of Levi he tried to climb through the hole, the fear in his eyes eclipsed by the fury in his wild movements. He didn’t even get his shoulders through before a hand landed on his shoulder, wrenching him away from the wall too.

“Ya wanna end up dead too? Huh?” A smaller man demanded, only his bloodshot, sunken eyes visible through the gap in the wall.

“He’s a puny fucker. I can take him.”

“Fool, it’s a Demon! It’ll curse ya.”

“Won’t give him the chance.”

Levi sneered. He would’ve laughed if he weren’t so pissed off. Before he became this pitiful creature he was now, the men would’ve been dead before they’d even laid their hands on the wall, and he would’ve made the ginger bastard sorry for spouting crap. But things had changed. It was different now. Levi picked up a rock which had fallen from the wall and launched it at the bigger man as he pulled himself up, but he defended with his arm, grunting as it struck him. It seemed only to fuel his rage, something Levi expected, but he wasn’t going to give him any other sort of warning. The man scrambled forward, squeezing his shoulders through the hole once more, and this time he made it through, landing ungracefully on his side and sending more stones falling around him. Levi wondered if the wall would hold, though the humans in the town would probably be quick to repair it if it were to break. They were naive to think that something like rocks could protect them.

The air around Levi tingled as the man stood and walked towards the barrier, and a strong burning smell hit him as the man passed through it. The redhead didn’t notice it at all, but then again why would he? As he got closer, Levi could smell deep earth and coal, and beneath that he caught the scent of Sorcerer blood. It was barely there, and Levi couldn’t tell if it was his own senses or weak blood, but there seemed to be a huge difference between this man and Erwin. Levi didn’t know for sure, but diluted enough there was a chance the curse might still affect him. Some part of him wished it were true to spare him the effort of dealing with this idiot.

The man stopped a few steps before Levi, bracing himself for a fight. He knew how to hold himself, standing in the correct stance, but Levi could see he was tense. No matter how skilled anyone was at fighting, they’d all shit themselves when facing a Demon, even back when Demon’s weren’t an uncommon sight. Though this guy had come all the way up here, maybe he’d thought the Demon of the forest was in fact only a story.

Levi considered using some of his magic, though only his flames to keep them scared, to keep them away. Not that he was able to do much more that that anymore in any case, but right then he couldn’t even form a spark at his fingers, merely creating an unpleasant stinging beneath his claws as if the heat were caught there. He tutted. No matter. He wouldn’t need magic to win this.

Keeping his eyes fixed on Levi, the man pulled a knife out from his boot. Though it looked like something he’d simply grabbed from his kitchen, he stared at the blade with a lecherous grin as if he planned on fucking it later, before pointing it at Levi.

“D’ya like killin’ kids? Make ya feel big?”

Levi didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with angry men, and men in the burning clutches of rage held little value for anything anyone else had to say. Besides, it wasn’t like Levi owed this bastard or anyone else any sort of explanation.When it was obvious that Levi wouldn’t react to the taunts, the guy lunged at him in a way it was clear he didn’t intend to hold back. He slashed towards Levi’s throat as if he wanted to end this as soon as possible, probably not having enough confidence in this fight to mess about. The man was quick despite his size, but Levi was still quicker. Even so, all he could manage to do was dodge his blade, allowing his limbs time to warm up. Levi knew he could be quicker than this, but how long had it been since he’d had to fight? It should have been second nature to him yet there were a few near misses. Perhaps Levi was a little tense too. It didn’t take too long for his muscles, however, to remember what it was like to do more than lay about and wait for the days to pass by. In fact, Levi was almost grateful for an opportunity to exert himself further than his endless strolling he’d done a thousand times and more in this damned maze of shitty trees.

The blade sliced through the air so close to Levi’s skin that he could feel it rush past him, so close that the man ended up in just the right position for Levi to drive his fist upwards into his jaw, his scraggly beard scratching at his knuckles. The look of surprise in his eyes was something Levi didn’t think he’d ever forget, the look of someone who’d vastly underestimated their opponent. Much like getting on a bike many years after last riding one, Levi’s body remembered how to brace himself, how to move his limbs as if a day hadn’t passed since he’d seen a battlefield.

Those just outside the wall were getting restless, pressing together to try and peer through the hole in the wall. Levi could hear some try to convince others to climb through and help, while the remainder threw out either cheers or insults. It reminded Levi of the fighting pits he’d seen in the cities years ago, though there’d never been Demons performing down below. Being only an observer was too much for one person to take, and they made the decision to scramble through the wall themselves, fitting through with no trouble.It was the smaller man from before, though he was only smaller in comparison to his friend as he still stood half a head taller than Levi. He was slim though, his limbs like knobbly twigs, and they looked as if they’d snap just as easily.

Levi tried to keep the man in sight while trying to kick the bigger guy’s legs from underneath him, but he was able to keep upright, his knees only buckling slightly. It didn’t mean that Levi had to give up entirely though, and so he struck out his hand and swiped his claws along the tender flesh at the back of the man’s legs. That was enough to have him fall forwards, landing hard on his knees.

Stepping back to catch his breath, Levi caught the other man decide to make his move. A burning sensation smothered Levi’s nostrils as soon as the man marched through the barrier, and he could tell right away that he didn’t have a drop of Sorcerer’s blood in him. Levi probably wouldn’t even have to fight him. The forest would take care of it.

While the red-haired man thought Levi distracted, he struck out once more with his knife. With the way he thrust his arm forward as he aimed for Levi’s ribs, it seemed he was much more used to fighting with his fists, probably hadn’t cut anything more than an animal carcass, so Levi deflected it. Easily. He thought he might have heard a crack where he struck the man’s forearm, more or less the same place he’d hit with the rock earlier, and if the man’s cursing was anything to go by, Levi would say he’d hit the spot exactly. Though Levi might have been useless where his magic was concerned, at least he still had this. The years had slowed him, but he could still outmanoeuvre them with ease. It wasn’t much; even the weakest Demon could easily overpower most humans, but it was proof that he still had some of himself left. As something he didn’t get to experience so often anymore, the tingle of adrenaline was almost an unrecognisable sensation, but it wasn’t at all unwelcome. Fighting wasn’t something that Levi missed, but it was a relief to have something to break the monotony, something to affirm there was still power in him when everyday in this forest served to remind him of his weakness. The large man before him, on the contrary, seemed a being that thrived on the thrill of fighting, or perhaps just as stubborn as a mule. Although he was clearly losing this fight, he was adamant to not hold back. He swung again and again with his blade as if he couldn’t control it, and short, uneven grunts slipped through his teeth clenched tight behind his unkempt beard.

“I’ll tear that other horn off yer head,” he yelled, his spit flying forwards. “It’ll look good on my mantelpiece.”

Though Levi was so much more than this slob of a human who gave way so easily to his anger, his comment set alight Levi’s own rage which burned hot in his limbs. Levi liked to think he had more control over himself, but if the guy got too close, he’d be more than willing to tear out his throat. He was only a step away, half a step more and Levi would have done it, but suddenly there was a sharp pain at the base of his spine and he stumbled backwards. The skinny fucker had yanked his tail. Hard enough to throw Levi off balance. He’d let his guard down, disregarded the other man having assumed a curse would’ve taken him quickly.Levi groaned as the pain climbed all the way up to his neck. What a cowardly move. And perfect for a prick pulling such a sneaky move, he’d gone and hidden behind a tree and let his bigger friend go for the finish which he planned to take with a sickening grin on his face. The knife was once again coming straight for Levi, this time from above. Ignoring his discomfort, Levi took a quick step to the left and when the blade passed by him he grabbed hold of the man’s arm, sticking his claws in deep for extra measure, and using his momentum against him, Levi tugged downwards while tripping him up at the feet. The man fell face first against the ground, but Levi didn’t allow his arm to follow, instead forcing it in the opposite direction until he heard a snap. A loud one, though not as loud as the scream that tore from the man’s throat. Still, Levi didn’t stop pulling until the knife fell to the ground, and he was able to kick it far away from any of them.

From behind the tree he’d opted as a shield, the scrawnier man emerged behind Levi. He’d sensed it this time, but it wasn’t as if the man had taken much care to be quiet, his shaky gulps for air may as well have been a horn signalling for attention.

Levi threw a look over his shoulder and fixed the man with a stare. “Don’t even think of trying that one again.”

Just that was enough to have the man change his mind, choosing instead to sprint back towards the wall. He didn’t make it quite so far, however, stumbling and falling to the ground after only a few steps. Was he just clumsy, or had the curse finally gotten him?

“You should take your friend and leave,” Levi said to the other man who was picking himself up from the floor. It seemed he may as well have been speaking in another language for how much attention the guy was paying to what he’d said. His breaths were ragged and his arm hung loose at his side, yet he was still raring to finish this fight. Tenacity was something Levi might respect depending on the circumstances, but pure stupidity would always be something he’d not be able to stand, despise even.The man struck a foot out to march forward, but he stopped when he heard his companion gasp behind him and start to grasp at the floor.

“I-I can’t see.” He cried out, pressing against his eyelids with dirtied hands, throwing his head about to try to catch sight of something, anything. Even from here, Levi could see the colour had completely drained from his eyes. The guy should consider himself lucky, it was probably one of the milder of inflictions that could be cast with this type of magic. 

The suffering of those foolish enough to come into the forest wasn't something Levi took pleasure in, but it was usually enough to keep people away for a time. And right now he really wanted these idiots to leave.

“Leave. Or you’ll be next,” Levi said to the larger man. Though Levi thought it obvious what he should do, the man only glowered, swapping glances between Levi and his stricken friend. The blinded man tried to get up, and though he called for help, no one else dared to climb through the walls. Not everyone was as foolish as these two, it seemed. When he tripped over a fallen branch and landed hard on his elbows, he howled, and that was finally enough for red-haired man to accept their loss and to retreat. Levi stood back and watched as they hobbled towards the gap in the wall, those still on the outside frantic as they hauled them through.

The man with red hair threw one last look at Levi, his lips snarled and eyes wild as he clutched his right arm.

“Smoke the bastard out.”

Levi heard the crowd roar as if in triumph, and then something flew over his head and smacked against the trees above him before falling to the ground. It smashed, and Levi smelt the oil just as it ignited into flames. It was the first of many. They were trying to burn down the forest. Fucking idiots. All off them.

The drier leaves on the forest floor curled as they gave in to the flames and smoke pulsed along the ground, batted about by the light breeze. Even so, the fire wouldn’t get far; barely a five minute walk past the tree line and everything was too damp to burn.

He hated being stuck in here, hated not knowing what was going on in the world beyond these walls, a world that moved on without him, leaving him to rot. Levi hadn’t realised he’d had any sort of hope lingering in his chest until he felt it disintegrate, crumbling to ash within him. With this sort of animosity rife in the town, there was no way Erwin would be able to come back even if he wanted to. Loneliness certainly wasn’t something unknown to Levi, but it was as if it had taken on a whole new form, even weightier than before. He could only hope that within all this mess and chaos Erwin was safe.

The flames that whipped about the air were only spreading, reaching up towards the sky and throwing smoke into the air. Levi breathed it in, the burning at the back of his throat only a comfort. He caught one last glimpse of the man before the smoke blocked the view, so Levi threw his arm out as if to cast a curse on him, but wasn’t able to find any enjoyment at the man jumping back in fear. Levi wondered if any of them realised how pointless it all was.

The fire was getting too close, daring to start circling around him as if it aimed to engulf him. If he weren’t wearing the clothes Erwin had made the effort to bring him despite his objections, Levi would’ve let the fires bathe him just to spite the swarm of morons on the other side of the wall, but he didn’t want to let the fabric catch so he stepped away and let the shadows of the forest consume him instead. It was cool and dark and damp. He could feel it settling on his body, and the stark contrast in temperatures had his arm hairs bristle, making his skin look like that of a goose. Pulling his shirt sleeves down did little to warm him, and he dreaded the coming of winter.

He looked up, though he didn’t see much. What he’d give to see a sky open and clear, without branches above his head curling their fingers towards him. For some time now, Levi had been able to look to the sky without feelings of bitterness, so it was nothing short of cruel that just as he’d been coming to realise what he’d been missing and why, it’d become certain that he’d never obtain it. Even if he were to somehow make it passed the forest boundaries without his body disintegrating, humans were still far too easy to manipulate and twist, and once again he’d be hunted down like a wild animal. He wouldn’t be able to return to his own world, after all, not in the state he’d been left in. His hand seemed to move on his own, coming up to the stump on top of his head. It still ached to touch, and where it had been snapped off had left jagged pieces which were sharp against his fingertips.

It was a long walk back to his little green patch of forest, but with his thoughts elsewhere it felt like he reached it in no time. He felt relieved to pass over the boundary where the curse couldn’t penetrate, far from the noise at the wall and the smell of burning leaves long behind him. The air felt just that little bit fresher in his lungs here, and it was warmer and brighter, too. It wasn’t a large space, and the dreary forest beyond the barrier surrounded him entirely, as if waiting to make its move, but this place had slowly become something more of a home in the past few months than it had in the centuries Levi’d spent there. Just by his feet there was a small mat made of twigs and leaves next to the fire pit where Erwin could sit without dirtying his clothes, though he’d spoken of bringing a blanket if he could find the chance to sneak one out the house. Levi wondered if he should burn it now, but there wasn’t much harm in leaving it there.

At the far end of Levi’s quiet retreat, there was a small pool. It wasn’t the freshest water in the world, but it was the best he could get in this forest. It hadn’t been transformed into a thick sludge, nor would the water melt his skin right through the bone. Noticing that the stink of smoke clung to his clothes, he removed them and submerged them into the water. The smell didn’t bother him, he was born of fire after all, but he wanted to keep the clothes as clean as possible. It was only when he saw the torn sleeve surrounded by a red stain that he realised he’d been hurt. So much for keeping the clothes in good condition. He looked at his right shoulder to find a long shallow cut with hardened beads of blood sealing it shut. That ginger giant must have nicked him with the knife just before Levi had made him eat dirt. Careful not to rip the shirt even more, Levi did his best to clean off the blood though it was a futile effort, and hung them over a makeshift rack, leftover from when he’d had to clean Erwin’s clothes. It’d come in handy now and then.

The water was cold as he scooped it up from the pool and scrubbed at his body, and he couldn’t help flinch as it ran down his back. A luxurious, warm, soapy bath was only something he could dream about. He thought back to his home world where there were pools of water warmed by the earth itself. It would never get too cold, not like it did in the human realm, but in the seasons where the sun stayed low in the sky and the wind blew cool, there was nothing better than slipping into those warm pools and watch the light of the day scurry beneath the horizon. It was a different kind of solitude he enjoyed back then.

His stomach rumbled, growling against the silence around him. Erwin bringing food into the forest hadn’t been an awful gesture, but apart from awakening bodily functions he’d almost forgotten about and making him take his first shit in decades, it reminded his body of the sensation of hunger. He went to the small hollow beneath the largest tree there to look around for some food, but his eyes fell first on the pile of books Erwin had brought, covered with the waterproof sheet Levi had made. Erwin would always promised he’d take the books back with him, but when it was time to get going he’d say he had plenty more at home.

Levi flicked through the most recent book Erwin had given him, hand drawn pictures taking up some of the pages rushed by in a flash of colour amongst the black and white. This book couldn’t have been cheap, and so each of the three times Levi had read it he’d done so with care. Levi frowned; some stupid part of him had been looking forward to talking to Erwin about it. Before placing it back on the pile, Levi’s attention was drawn to another book, the one about the bird. The cover was a soft blue, and the title was written in yellow, the letters small and delicate. _The Long Way Home_. It was so unoriginal, not that Levi could come up with anything better but he wasn’t the one paid to write the stuff. It was written in the odd lettering that the people of the town seemed to use now, and in certain styles Levi had learned it could look beautiful, much less clunky than he’d originally thought. Though Levi had picked the book up a few times, he’d never got round to finish it and had simply skipped to the end. It was different than every other book Erwin had brought him which was something Levi’d requested, but it was a little too on the nose for his liking. Erwin might have said that he couldn’t remember the whole story, but Levi couldn’t help think it was intentional. A story of a bird that had fallen from its nest, trapped on the ground, helpless and scared. Was that how Erwin saw Levi? Simply some pathetic creature struggling to get home? Whatever point Erwin had been trying to make by bringing that book, Levi wasn’t gonna get the typical happy-ever-after bullshit that all of his stories seemed to end in. Unlike the stupid bird, he wouldn’t be finding his way home at the end of all this. But then again, what even was home for Levi? He didn’t know anymore. By now, he’d spent more time in this world than he had in his own, and other than a few small comforts and the lure of nostalgia, he didn’t really know what else he missed. More than anything Levi missed his freedom, and he thought he could probably be just as content in this world if he had it. There was no use of thinking about being free of this place though, and he cursed at himself for letting his mind entertain the thought. He was stuck in here, and enough time had passed to make him realised that that wasn’t going to change.

A whine from his gut reminded him what he had come here for in the first place, so he put down the book and sifted through the arrangement of edible goods. Levi had no idea how the kid was sneaking so much food over here. It must have meant Erwin was living a good life if he had enough food to bring it all this way and leave it behind just for Levi’s sake, probably could explain why Erwin was so happy-go-lucky and believed that everything would turn out just fine. Levi wondered what it would be like to live life like that. Moving aside a tin of crackers revealed a small jar of pickles, and Levi recalled Erwin’s face when he showed up with it. The little shit thought he was funny. Levi thought about throwing it away, perhaps burying them somewhere and having Erwin search for them if he ever wanted to eat them. He chuckled at the thought, but then remembered that the kid wouldn’t be coming back. The pickles could stay where they were, he decided.

There was a small packet of dried fruits, and as Levi looked them over he thought it was a shame he didn’t have more. He might’ve been able to make something to drink. If this shitty piece of forest were actually of any use, it would have some trees that gave fruit. He’d never been a big drinker, in this world nor his own, but he licked his lips at the thought of some liquor, still sweet from the handful of dried fruits he’d just tucked into. Some decades ago, though it could have easily been much more or less, a man had stumbled into the forest. There had been a few more gaps in the wall back then. He was a drunkard, if the stench of his breath and the half-empty bottle he wielded alongside the full spare one sitting loose in his trouser pocket were anything to go by. Levi remembered that the man was so drunk, he hadn’t realised he was rotting from the inside out. He did eventually notice, though they managed to shared a few words before his body started falling apart. Surprisingly, he hadn’t been an unpleasant man, and Levi wished he could remember what they’d spoken about. The forest could be a relentless force, inflicting the most dreadful curses, but out of it Levi had received a bottle and a half of amber liquor, and he’d never had such a quick few days. He thought he could with that again right now.

The grass was cool against his skin as he lay down, and he curled his toes when a brisk air ran along his front. He should start a fire, but he felt there was little point in exerting the effort. A little cold wouldn’t kill him. A lot of cold wouldn’t kill him either, and a little bit of discomfort was the least of his worries.

By the time the sun started to set, casting the sky above him a much more delicate blue, Levi was still thinking about Erwin, wondering if he knew the children who’d come into the forest. The possibility that Erwin had assumed that Levi had something to do with this whole mess hadn’t failed to cross his mind. The kid was stubborn though, and Levi was sure it would take a lot more than for Erwin to stop coming here. He’d come into the forest that first time despite all the tales he’d heard about the place, about Levi.

Levi should’ve stopped Erwin coming long ago. Why hadn’t he? Not that it mattered now anyway. Laying in the forest unable to do anything but think about the choices he should and shouldn’t have made was frustrating. He wished he were able to break down those walls, destroy the magic barrier, and march to the town just to check Erwin was okay. Just to keep his own conscience clear, of course. He frowned. Clicked his tongue. Sighed. Who was he trying to fool? He didn’t want any more innocent blood on his hands, especially not Erwin’s, even when the last thing Levi needed was yet another vulnerability.

When he was younger he’d thought so little of humans, but time in this world had made him weaker of both body and mind. He was so sentimental now, which wasn’t news to him, but found himself surprised that there was still a little bit of hope within him that Erwin would come back to the forest, even when he reminded himself that it was better for Erwin to never return. He was certain that was true, and he believed it, but he knew he couldn’t say the same thing for himself. These past fews months, Erwin’s visits had provided a distraction, and dare he admit it, a pleasant one at that. Few knew loneliness like Levi did.

His back clicked as he repositioned himself, the new position just as uncomfortable as the one before. Perhaps he should light that fire after all.

Levi couldn’t be sure why Erwin hadn’t come back to the forest, but he was sure that if the kid knew even a shred of his history, there’d be no way he’d want to come back.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and say hello! : http://2dsheep.tumblr.com


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